





SANITARY 




SE-INSPECTIO 



GERHARD 




■iliiiHlii B — I H iliiummniTiinrniiiiiiiiiiiwiiiKi i iiiiiiii n 'n "jk^ fi^j. 
KiNiiHH— mw— iiiiiii I -iMinii— rirnnn-imnrntTiiii ■|-n-"-r t • 




Glass _ 
Book_ 



mil. 



'^^/ 



A GUIDE 

TO 

SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION; 

OR, 

HINTS AND HELPS REGARDING THE CHOICE OF A 
HEALTHFUL HOME IN CITY OR COUNTRY. 

BY 

WILLIAM PAUL GERHARD, C.E., 

CoTisuliing Engineer for Sanitary Works; Corresponding Meinber American 
Institute of Architects^ Member New England Water-Works Asso- 
ciation, American Public Health Association, German 
Technical Society of New York, etc. 

AUTHOR OF " HOUSE DRAINAGE AND SANITARY PLUMBING ; " " HINTS ON THE 
DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE OF DWELLINGS;" "DIAGRAM FOR SEWER CAL- 
CULATIONS;" "the DISPOSAL OF ■ HOUSEHOLD WASTES;" " SANITARY 
QUESTIONS;" "the PREVENTION OF FIRE;" "SANITARY DRAINAGE 
OF BUILDINGS;" " THE DRAINAGE OF A HOUSE ;" "DOMESTIC 
SANITARY APPLIANCES ; " " GAS LIGHTING AND GAS 
FITTING;" ETC., ETC. 



CJiirtr UBiition/ 



NEW YORK: 

JOHN WILEY & SONS 

43-45 East 19th St. 

1902. 






Copyright by 
JOHN WILEY & SONS, 



ROBERT DRUMMOND, PRINTER, NEW YORK. 



i^n y^ 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



In the following pages the attempt has been made 
to outline broadly the main features of a sanitary 
house-inspection. Although it is hoped that th^ 
book may also prove useful to architects, civil engi^ 
neers, builders, health officers, sanitary inspectors, and 
family physicians, its principal aim is to instruct the 
householder. 

It was impossible, without unduly enlarging the 
book, and thus, perhaps, curtailing its usefulness, to 
give in detail the reasons why certain constructions 
and arrangements are defective ; nor could the right 
way of doing the work be explained in all cases. The 
principal scope of the book is to be a guide in the 
search for defects ; and those who have a desire to 
inform themselves further in these matters would 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

perhaps do well to refer to the other works of the 
author, — in particular to his books, "House Drainage 
and Sanitary Plumbing," "Hints on the Drainage and 
Sewerage of Dwellings," and to his forthcoming works 
on "Sanitary Architecture," and "Domestic Sanitary 
Appliances," which treat more in detail of matters 
merely mentioned or hinted at in this volume. 



WILLIAM PAUL GERHARD. 



6 AsTOR Place, New-York City, 
Aug. 1, 1885. 



Preface to the Second Edition. 



A second edition of this book being called for, it is 
issued substantially unchanged, the author's numerous 
professional engagements having rendered a thorough 
revision impossible. 



THE AUTHOR. 



39 Union Square, West, 

New York City, May i, iS 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Necessity of Sanitary House-Inspection ... 8 

"Skin" Buildings 14 

Essentials of a Healthful Home 19 

Inspection of City Houses 22 

Inspection of the Surroundings and of the Soil . . 23 

Inspection of the Cellar . . . . , , 25 

Inspection of the Yard 26 

Inspection of Structural Details 27 

Inspection of the Sewerage and Plumbing ... 31 

Inspection of the Water-Supply 53 

Inspection of the Method of Garbage Disposal . . 55 

Inspection of the Arrangements for Warming the House, 56 

Insj>ection of the Gas-lighting Arrangements . . . 66 

Inspection of the Ventilation of the House ... 74 

Bad Odors and the Prevention of Dust .... 84 

Inspection of Arrangements insuring Safety against Fire, 87 

Apartment-Houses 90 

Inspection of Tenement-Houses 95 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Inspection of Country Houses 99 

Healthfulness of Town and Country Houses compared, 100 

Choice of a Site 102 

Inspection of the House Foundations and Cellar . 104 

Inspection of Walls, Roofs, and Rooms .... 107 

Inspection of the Heating- Apparatus . . . . iii 

Inspection of the Plumbing-Work 113 

Inspection of the Water-Supply 116 

Inspection of Method of Disposal of Household Wastes, 125 

Inspection of the House Surroundings . . . 128 

Inspection of the Removal of Storm-water . . .131 

Summer Boarding-Houses and Summer Resorts . 132 

Necessity of Periodical Inspection .... 134 

Alphabetical Index 139 



A GUIDE TO 

SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION : 



HINTS AND HELPS REGARDING THE CHOICE OF A 
HEALTHFUL HOME IN CITY OR COUNTRY. 



" How can a house be a safe haven, if in winter the winds pierce 
it, if in summer the sun scorch it, if dampness rises in its walls, 
if foul air penetrates its chambers, if by neglect or ignorance the 
demons of fever enter and lurk therein ? " 

Oliver B. Bunce : My House, an Ideal. 

The statement has recently been made, that, 
" of all the houses put up in the United States, 
not one in a hundred is made to submit to any 
official regulation. The local government know 
nothing of the plans of the builders or architects : 
there are no sanitary regulations, or attempts to 
insure protection against fire. No wonder that 

7 



8 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

whole cities are destroyed by conflagration, and 
that malaria and disease are common throughout 
the country ! There is no provision by law secur- 
ing proper drainage, sewerage, or safe construc- 
tion in ninety-nine out of every hundred houses 
erected in the United States." 

While this may not strictly apply to our largest 
cities, in which building-laws and sanitary regula- 
tions are now in force, yet there cannot be much 
doubt, that, even in these, there is room for much 
improvement. That the statements quoted are 
true of the majority of buildings in smaller cities 
and towns, and of many of the country and sub- 
urban houses annually erected, nobody will deny. 

NECESSITY OF SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

Taken as a whole, the warning given ought to 
serve a useful purpose in calling attention to the 
serious risks incurred by people in occupying a 
dwelling without first having made a thorough 
inspection of the premises. Even if a tempo- 
rary residence only is contemplated, it would not 



SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 9 

appear prudent to neglect such an investigation 
and inquiry. Health being the supreme con- 
sideration, the greatest stress should always be 
laid upon a detailed examination of the sanitary 
condition of the home. Nevertheless, in by far 
the majority of instances, the public exhibits an 
utter indifference and carelessness with regard to 
this important matter. In choosing a home, the 
importance of a wholesome soil, of sound building 
materials, and of honest workmanship, is apt to 
be set aside by questions of convenience and 
fashion, and a number of other considerations of 
less value. What is the prevalent custom with 
even well-educated people in choosing a dwell- 
ing? Disregarding the question of a salubrious 
site and of a sanitary construction, they are satis- 
fied if the house stands in a nice street and a 
fashionable locality, and presents an attractive 
exterior. On entering such a house, the usual 
points inquired into are the sizes of the principal 
rooms, but particularly of the parlor, dining-room, 
and reception-room ; the character of the hard- 
wood trimmings, of plate-glass mirrors, the elab- 



lO SANITARY HOVSE-INSPECTION: 

orate decoration of mantle-pieces ; the provision 
made for look-outs, bay-windows, and plenty of 
closet space ; the convenience of fittings, such as 
electric bells, speaking-tubes, dumb-waiters ; the 
elegance of the plumbing-fixtures so far as they 
appear visible, in particular of showy marble tops 
of basins, of silver-plated faucets, costly decorated 
bowls, and hardwood cabinet-work incasing the 
plumbing. Briefly, it is the superficial appearance 
of all visible finish which exercises more influence 
upon intending buyers than the more serious con- 
siderations of stability, healthfulness, and safety. 
Only occasionally does it happen that an inquiry 
is made into the stability and general character 
of the structure. 

No prudent man would think of buying a 
house without carefully examining the title of the 
property ; and it is now regarded, in real-estate 
transactions, as a necessary expenditure to pay 
competent lawyers for services rendered in secur- 
ing evidence as to the correctness of the title of 
a property before concluding any bargain. But 
not one out of a hundred or more purchasers 



SAmTARV BOUSE-INSPECTlON. It 

would deem it of sufficient importance to secure 
a certificate from an expert that the house is built 
in accordance with sanitary rules and regulations. 
And yet, if the buyer intends to make the house 
his future residence, his own health, and that of 
his family and household, will depend upon its 
cleanliness and salubriousness. The same remarks 
apply, with equal force, to houses for rent, located 
in the city, in the suburbs, or in the country. 
With all the weight of his experience as a sani- 
tarian, Col. Waring advises : — 

" Let no family man lease any house without 
a guaranty of its sound sanitary construction. 
The question of value is too trifling to be thought 
about ; and, as the world goes, houses are not less 
valuable because their plumbing is defective. We 
run the risk of losing, not money, but health and 
life ; and these can be secured by the guaranty of 
no house agent or owner. It is a case where we 
need the guaranty of absolute knowledge. We 
ought not to hazard the safety of our family by 
moving them into, or by keeping them in, a house 
whose pipes and drains we do not know to be 



12 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

absolutely tight and strong, and to be suitably 
arranged as to connections, traps, and ventilation. 
Positive knowledge that the plumbing-work is in 
this sound condition is the only guaranty that the 
head of a family, whose eyes have been opened 
to the dangers of defective work, would be justi- 
fied in accepting." 

It may not seem out of place to utter a word of 
caution to intending buyers or lessees of houses, 
old or new, as to the acceptance of general and 
indefinite statements made to them by real-estate 
agents. Let it be understood, that it is not, at the 
present time, a part of the business of an agent to 
demonstrate the healthful condition of a property. 
He is simply acting in the interest of the owner or 
landlord who commissioned him to sell or to rent, 
as the case may be, a house, at as high a price, 
and under as favorable terms, as he may be able to 
secure. Undoubtedly, the time is near at hand 
when it will be considered indispensable for agents 
and owners to produce a certificate of the health- 
fulness and sound construction of a house ; and 
the natural consequence must be that houses hav- 



SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 1 3 

ing such proper sanitary certificate will command 
a much better price, and find a more ready sale. 
At present, however, the duty devolves upon the 
intending purchaser or lessee to secure expert evi- 
dence that a house is properly arranged and built 
as regards its situation and subsoil, its construc- 
tion, its ventilation, warming, lighting, and pro- 
tection against fire, and its system of water-supply 
and sewerage. So good an authority in England 
as Mr. William Eassie, C. E., says : — 

"The wisdom of not entering upon residence in 
any old house until its healthy condition is vouched 
for by some competent authority, it would be a 
work of supererogation to affirm, seeing how many 
sicken and perish for want of the most ordinary 
care in this respect. In town and in country alike, 
when this precaution has been neglected. Nemesis, 
in the form of some indisposition or another, is cer- 
tain to overtake the careless occupant. This axiom 
is, unfortunately, applicable to modern houses built 
within the present decade, as many a sorrowing 
heart can testify." 

The conclusions at which we must arrive, from 



14 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

an earnest and thoughtful consideration of the facts 
stated, are, that before choosing for occupancy a 
home, in city or country, a householder should take 
the precaution to inquire carefully into its health- 
fulness and the character of its surroundings. A 
little time devoted to such a preliminary investiga- 
tion, and a consideration of the facts elicited, are 
always well worth the trouble, and may save much 
subsequent illness, especially of those members 
of the family who are obliged to spend the greater 
part of each day at home. Those who can ill 
afford the time required for an investigation, or 
do not feel themselves competent to pass judg- 
ment, should not hesitate to ask expert advice in 
a matter which may hereafter affect the well-being 
of those whom they love most. It is particularly 
true of dwelling-house sanitation, that " an ounce 
of prevention is better than a pound of cure." 

"SKIN" BUILDINGS. 
In cities and in rapidly growing suburbs it will 
be advisable to avoid, by all means, the cheap 
houses of the speculative or "jerry" builder, which 



"SKIN" BUILDINGS. 1 5 

are run up by the hundreds in an incredibly short 
time, without any considerations whatever of rules 
governing healthful house-construction ; and if 
they bear a displayed advertisement of having been 
built " by day's work," and of being provided with 
perfect ^' sanitary T^Xumbmg and sanitary \iQzX\ng" 
we will not, generally, be far from right if we look 
upon them with all the more suspicion. Such 
" skin " houses may easily be recognized, however 
attractive they may be in outside appearance, by 
an inferior workmanship of details of construction 
other than those relating to sanitary arrangements. 
Health, comfort, convenience, and sound construc- 
tion are, with them, too often sacrificed to mere 
outward elegance and fashion. Wherever we find 
that a house has settled considerably, owing to 
poor foundations, and exhibits walls full of cracks ; 
wherever the brick-work is laid with the poorest 
kind of mortar ; wherever the outer walls appear 
wet or splashed, owing to window-sills that do not 
project beyond the walls, and are not grooved on 
the under side so as to throw the water clear of 
the walls ; wherever the plastering is unsatisfactO' 



1 6 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

rily done, and does not show well-planed and true 
surfaces ; wherever floor-boards are loose, or show 
wide cracks favoring the accumulation of dirt 
and dust, and forming harboring-places for ver- 
min ; wherever door-frames are out of plumb, and 
doors, windows, and shutters constructed of un- 
seasoned wood, with panels full of cracks ; wher- 
ever gas-fixtures hang out of plumb, or rattle with 
every footstep, owing to insufficient strength of 
the joists ; wherever locks refuse to work, window- 
sashes stick, and sash-ropes are torn ; wherever 
the paint soon scales or wears off ; wherever the 
cold-air box is constructed of a poor material, with 
a multitude of cracks and crevices ; wherever hot- 
air flues are insufficient in size, and carried close 
to unprotected wood-work ; wherever, finally, the 
whole plumbing-job appears to be "scamped," — 
there we may, with a tolerable degree of certainty, 
assume that sanitary considerations have been neg- 
lected, that the sanitary work was imperfectly done, 
even if the building and health regulations have, 
to all superficial appearance, been complied with. 
For it must be remembered, that, even in those 



"SKIN" BUILDINGS. 1 7 

cities where building and sanitary regulations are 
in force, and a large corps of efficient building 
and sanitary inspectors exercise a supervision of 
work in new buildings, it is very difficult to pre- 
vent intentional frauds on the part of unscrupu- 
lous builders. As regards drainage and plumbing 
of buildings, in particular, there always remains 
a chance for doing defective work, or using im- 
proper or poor materials, without necessarily vio- 
lating any of the official regulations. 

One cannot live in a house of this kind, even, 
if only completed just before occupation, without 
having before long serious defects appear, neces- 
sitating frequent and expensive repairs. Flues 
will not draw, being roughly and improperly con- 
structed without smooth lining, and made insuf- 
ficient in size ; fire-places will smoke ; the furnace 
will not heat a house, although a brisk fire turns 
the iron red-hot ; water-pipes and traps will con- 
stantly freeze and burst in mid-winter, owing to 
carelessness of arrangement and to the light 
weight of lead used ; faucets soon wear out, and 
drip ; gas-flames burn with an unsteady, dim light, 



1 8 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

owing to the insufficient size of the gas-service 
pipes ; roofs will leak ; dampness and mould will 
appear in the cellar ; and sewer air from abomina- 
ble pan-closets and dried-up cellar traps will soon 
fill the house. Living in such a house means hav- 
ing not only the constant annoyance of mechanics 
trying to repair an originally bad job, but — and 
this is infinitely more serious — it means frequent 
calls for the family physician, or continued low 
state of health of your wife and children. Avoid 
such houses, by all means. 

But, even where outward indications do not 
warrant the conclusion that a house is unsafe to 
live in, it is well to examine the building thor- 
oughly, from cellar to garret, or to get an expert 
to make a report upon its condition. The inves- 
tigations of the last twenty-five years, in preven- 
tive medicine, have advanced the knowledge of 
the laws of hygiene, and of the conditions favor- 
able to health, to such an extent, that it is feasi- 
ble to establish fundamental rules with regard to 
healthful house-construction. This is as far as 
the duty of medical men should extend. It de- 



ESSENTIALS OF A HEALTHFUL HOME. I9 

volves upon architects and engineers to apply 
their practical knowledge in carrying out such 
arrangements and details of construction as are 
best adapted to secure healthful conditions. In 
sanitary house-inspections, the principal aim is to 
inquire if such rules have been followed ; and, if 
not, wherein and how far they have been violated. 
Sanitary house-inspection covers so many points 
worthy of discussion, that it seems difficult to 
touch, in a brief essay, upon all features requiring 
attention, but an effort is made in the following 
pages of giving at least the chief points which 
such an examination should embrace. 

ESSENTIALS OF A HEALTHFUL HOME. 

It may be well, as an introduction to the sub- 
ject, to state briefly the requirements of, and the 
conditions which ought to prevail in, a healthful 
house. Broadly speaking, there should be in and 
about a habitation ^ure air., -pure water, and 
a -pure soil. To enumerate more in particular 
some of the principal requirements, the house 
should stand on a dry site, free from moisture or 
ground exhalations, and should be isolated from 



20 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

direct contact with the surrounding soil ; it should 
have a light and cheerful aspect, and the surround- 
ings must be in every way unobjectionable ; it 
should be constructed with a view to constant and 
complete dryness of foundations, walls, and roof; 
it should have rooms of such a size as to pre- 
vent any overcrowding ; there should be sufficient 
ventilation to remove any impurities from respira- 
tion, cutaneous perspiration, combustion of fuel, 
gaseous products of illumination, fumes from 
cooking, and vapors of steam and soap from the 
laundry, and noxious odors from plumbing-fix- 
tures ; it should have a free admission of pure 
outer air, of light, and of the sun's invigorating 
rays during at least a few hours each day. The 
house must be provided with efficient and un- 
obstructed sewerage, to remove at once all liquid 
household wastes ; and with a good supply of pure 
and cool water for drinking and cooking purposes, 
for house-cleaning and laundry purposes, flushing 
of traps, fixtures, and waste-pipes. Besides, a 
house should be provided with means for a per- 
fect distribution of an equalized and agreeable 



ESSENTIALS OF A HEALTHFUL HOME. .21 

temperature ; and with means for artificial lighting 
without deteriorating the atmosphere of halls and 
rooms. The protection from the danger of fire 
should be as complete as it is possible to make it ; 
the removal of garbage and ashes must be prompt 
and regular, and effected without creating any 
offence ; and there should be throughout the 
house as little as possible chance for the accu- 
mulation of dirt and dust. 

" Domestic sanitation," says Dr. B. W. Richard- 
son, one of the greatest sanitarians, " aims at 
constructing homes, or improving houses already 
constructed, so as to remove all defects which 
may affect health. The essentials for maintaining 
perfect salubrity in a house are, — 

" I. It must present no facilities for holding 
dust or the poisonous particles of disease. 

"2. It must possess every facility for the re- 
moval of its impurities as fast as they are produced. 

"3. It must be free from damp. 

" 4. It must be well filled with daylight, from- all 
points that can be charged with light from the sun, 
without glare. 



22 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION: 

"5. It must be charged with perfectly pure air 
in steady, changing currents. 

"6. It must be maintained at an even tempera- 
ture, and must be free from draughts. 

" 7. It must be charged with an efficient supply 
of pure and perfectly filtered water." 

INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 

We will begin with city houses. A good deal 
of ingenuity, coupled with some common-sense 
and large experience, are required in making a 
sanitary survey of a house. In making such an 
Inspection, it is well to accept with caution all 
statements made by others, and to trust only to 
the observations of your own senses. Of course, 
some information may be gained by making in- 
quiries, but one should feel certain that the parties 
conveying the information are entirely disinter- 
ested. Before entering a house, take a look at 
the street. Note its width and general direction, 
and observe particularly the height of houses on 
the opposite side of the street ; for upon this will, 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 23 

to a great extent, depend the cheerfulness of your 
front rooms. Avoid the neighborhood of tall 
apartment-houses, which rob the street and the 
houses of sunlight and pure air. Free and airy 
streets, and plenty of parks and breathing-spaces, 
are much to be desired in cities. The north side 
of a street is preferable ; for here your front rooms 
will be sunny and warm in winter, and will enjoy 
the benefit of the cooling southern breezes in 
summer-time. 

INSPECTION OF THE SURROUNDINGS AND OF THE SOIL. 

Inquire carefully into the character of the neigh- 
borhood, and ascertain if any noisy factories or 
offensive trades are near by. Avoid the vicinity 
of slaughter-houses, stables, carpet-beating works, 
infectious hospitals, and the like. Observe the 
character and condition of the street pavement, 
which has more or less bearing upon the salubri- 
ousness of the street, and note particularly the 
cleanliness of the gutters. But, above all, look 
carefully into the character of the building-site. 
If you can refer to old topographical maps, show- 



24 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

Ing the original water-courses and contours of the 
land, you will find these a great help in studying 
this all-important question. If the spot was origi- 
nally a low, damp site, or a swamp, marsh, or pond, 
filled up to the street-level, you may at once look 
upon the site with distrust. It is often a difficult 
matter to ascertain if such a locality has been well 
drained before the filling process was begun ; and, 
as regards the material used for filling up the lot, 
it will hardly be necessary to warn you against the 
possibility of its being a mixture of ashes, street- 
sweepings, garbage, rotten vegetation, and house 
refuse. If you value your health, you should at 
once abandon the idea of taking a house built on 
a site which has only recently been filled to the 
level of the street. Made-land may be rendered 
available for building-sites after some years ; but, 
of course, even then a perfect isolation of the 
house from the surrounding and underlying soil 
is required, and to investigate this will be one of 
your first duties. Even where the soil consists 
of gravel, sand, or loam, and much more so 
where it is clay or rock, the matter of drainage — » 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 2$ 

that is, the removal of subsoil water, or the per- 
manent lowering of the level of the ground water 
to a good depth below the cellar floor — requires 
careful attention. If subsoil drains are laid, their 
location should be ascertained, as well as the 
manner in which they are constructed, whether 
of stone or tiles ; and particular care should be 
devoted to their outlet, and to their thorough 
disconnection from the sewer or house-drain. 

INSPECTION OF THE CELLAR. 

Upon entering a house, it will be well to direct 
your steps at once to the cellar. If this shows 
signs of dampness ; if the floor is wet, or has 
pools of stagnant water ; if the walls are dripping 
with moisture, or covered with a mouldy growth, 
— you may be sure that the house cannot be 
healthful. Examine with care the construction 
of the foundation-walls. See whether there is a 
damp-proof course to prevent the dampness from 
rising in the walls, whether the walls are coated 
inside and outside with asphaltum, and whether 
>the wall is built hollow, or is provided with an area 



26 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

all around to keep off soil- moisture. See whether 
the walls in the cellar are kept in a proper and 
cleanly condition, and have recently been white- 
washed. Note also the depth of the cellar floor 
below the sidewalk, and the clear height of the 
cellar. Look for gullies in the cellar floor, and 
see whether they are left untrapped, or are in- 
sufficiently trapped by a bell-trap forming the 
strainer to the gully, or by siphon-traps with 
shallow depth of water seal, which is readily lost 
by evaporation. Examine carefully the condition 
of the cellar floor. To isolate the house from the 
earth, the floor should have a layer of concrete at 
least six inches thick, finished on top with Portland 
cement, or, better still, with a layer of coal-tar 
pitch, or asphaltum. Note whether the cellar has 
ample movable windows for light and air, or a 
ventilating flue carried along a heated chimney 
flue. 

INSPECTION OF THE YARD. 

Next go to the yard, and note its size and 
general condition, whether it is paved and well 
drained, whether it has a well, a privy in the rear. 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. T.'J 

or a cesspool ; and if so, measure the distances 
from each other, and from the house foundation- 
walls. See if the yard is well kept, clean, and 
free from offensive slops or heaps of garbage. 
If there is a privy- vault, examine its construction, 
size, material, ventilation, and see if it is water- 
tight, and how full. If there is a cesspool, or 
catch-pit for grease, examine its condition ; see 
especially if it is leaching or tight. 

INSPECTION OF STRUCTURAL DETAILS. 

Returning to the house, it will be well, before 
taking up in detail the arrangements as to light- 
ing, warming, ventilation, water-supply, and sew- 
erage, to examine the general construction of the 
house, the material used for building, the charac- 
ter of the roof, the number of floors, the width 
and depth of the house, and the portion of the 
lot covered. In this connection it will be worth 
your while to study somewhat closely the character 
of the back buildings, and their distance from the 
rear of the house. 

In looking into the arrangement of the rooms,. 



28 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION: 

particular attention should be given to the size 
and clear height of bedrooms, to the number and 
dimensions of windows, and to the ventilation 
and lighting of bed-chambers, closets, pantries, 
and storerooms. As to the walls, it should be 
remembered that new walls are always damp. In 
the process of building, an immense quantity of 
water is put into the walls of a house, which 
requires much time to be expelled, and which it 
is much more difficult to expel after a house has 
been once occupied. Houses, therefore, ought 
not to be taken for occupancy immediately after 
the mechanics have left ; for a damp house is 
always unhealthy. As to the inside finish of walls, 
the best surface, where perfect ventilation is other- 
wise provided for, would be one that is impervi- 
ous, non-absorbent, and polished, which could be 
washed by means of a sponge with clean water 
and soap. All other surfaces, such as plaster, 
wood, paint, or varnish absorb more or less or- 
ganic impurities given off from the human skin. 
If walls are painted, it is better to varnish them, 
for then they are much easier cleaned. If the 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 29 

walls are papered, make sure that the wall-paper 
contains no poisonous material, such as arsenic. 
It should be remembered, too, that (contrary to the 
popular notion that bright green colors only may 
contain arsenic) color is no guaranty whatever as 
to freedom from arsenic. Arsenic has been de- 
tected in often large amounts in dull greens, and 
equally so in almost all other colors. Nothing 
but an examination of the individual sample of 
paper by chemical analysis will decide this ques- 
tion. Another popular fallacy is to presume that 
the presence of arsenic in colors adds to their 
brightness. It is now admitted by manufacturers 
that equally bright-colored papers may be manu- 
factured without it, and this at a cost not greater 
to the manufacturer. Arsenic detached from flocky 
wall-papers as dust may frequently be found de- 
posited on the tops of furniture, pictures, doors, 
etc. But it is also developed and diffused in the 
air of rooms, as arseniuretted hydrogen, from con- 
tact with putrefying starch paste. It is well, even 
where there is no danger from arsenical poisoning, 
to ascertain that walls of papered rooms are not 



30 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

repeatedly covered with succeeding layers of 
paper, each covering and retaining the organic 
impurities absorbed by the previous one. 

Next inspect the construction of the floors. 
Well-seasoned wood, free from notches or cracks, 
should be used. Floors should preferably be con- 
structed of narrow hard-wood boards, laid with 
close joints, and tongued, so as to prevent the 
dirt from falling through and accumulating in the 
closed spaces between the ceiling and the floor, or 
even lodging in the floor joints ; for such organic 
dust is liable to putrefy, and may often become a 
source of danger to the purity of the air. For 
like reasons, floors should be, as much as possi- 
ble, water-proof. The best floors are hard-wood 
floors, laid with closely fitting joints, with a 
smooth surface, well oiled, or waxed, and rubbed 
and polished. 

In going from one floor to the next, the con- 
struction and easiness of the staircase should be 
observed, and notice taken whether the staircase 
hall is well ventilated and well lighted. See also 
if there is an ample accommodation on the top 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 3 1 

floor for your servants ; for you should not tolerate 
basement bedrooms, which are always unhealthy 
and stuffy, and generally dark and dreary. See 
if the roof is tight, and the chimneys above the 
roof well constructed and in a good condition. It 
is well to provide parapet walls with impervious 
coping-stones to prevent dampness from descend- 
ing into the house-walls. 

INSPECTION OF THE SEWERAGE AND PLUMBING. 

The examination of the sewerage and plumbing 
of a dwelling should be thorough and minute, for 
in no other detail of interior construction does 
"scamping" prevail to such an extent as here; 
and it is well to fix in your mind, in the prelimi- 
nary tour of inspection just described, the location 
of the plumbing-fixtures on the different floors of 
the house. This will be an excellent guide in 
following up the course of the various vertical 
lines of waste and soil pipes, and the location of 
their junction with the main cellar drain. The 
detailed inspection of the pipes and fixtures should 
begin in the cellar. 



$2 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

If the house is old, the main drain is generally 
out of sight, and often difficult to find, being 
buried below the cellar floor, and left entirely 
without means of access. It is absolutely neces- 
sary to break up the floor concrete, to dig down 
to the drain, and to open it, in order to examine 
its condition. Old houses often have square brick 
drains, large enough to remove the sewage of a 
whole village, usually in a bad and dilapidated 
condition, full of the filth accumulations from 
sinks and water-closets, and forming a veritable 
" elongated cesspool " under a house. It need 
hardly be stated that such a condition renders a 
house absolutely uninhabitable. An equally bad 
adjunct of such drains is the so-called mason's 
trap, often and more appropriately called a cesspool 
trap, serving to disconnect the house from the 
sewer, but in reality forming a most disgusting 
and dangerous cesspool. If the house is of a 
more recent construction, the main drain may be 
of cement or terra-cotta pipe. In either case it is 
usually of far too large a size to keep clean ; and, 
as a rule, it has leaky joints, causing the contami- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 33 

nation of the soil under the house, and also accu- 
mulations of solid filth, or else stoppages in the 
pipes. The round running traps used with such 
drains, to keep off the air from the sewer or cess- 
pool, are often of defective make or improper 
shape, and should always be opened and exam- 
ined as to their freedom from accumulation of 
sediment and scum. Cement and earthen drains 
are alike objectionable inside and under habita- 
tions. A point at which leakages are very apt to 
be found is at the junction between vertical soil- 
pipes with such earthen drains. The drain may 
have settled, and the contents of the soil-pipe are 
simply poured, day after day, into the ground ; and 
such condition of affairs, which is by no means 
unusual in some of the finest city mansions, may 
have existed for years without having been noticed, 
thus rendering the soil under the cellar floor a 
perfect hot-bed for germs of disease. One should 
make it a rule, in inspecting a house-drain, to 
make observations regarding the free flow of 
water through it, by discharging a water-closet, a 
bath-tub, or other fixture, and thus to gain valu- 



34 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

able indications as to the inside condition of pipes, 
which will enable a person to make sure that 
there are no obstructions, stoppages, or leakages. 
In modern town-houses, we find, as a rule, the 
main drain carried above the floor, of iron, gener- 
ally alongside one of the foundation-walls. If it 
is provided with hand-hole fittings or inspection- 
holes, it is advisable to open these at frequent 
points, to ascertain definitely the interior condition, 
and to test the free flow of the house-drain. If 
the drain has only little fall, or is unnecessarily 
large in diameter, or is insufficiently supported, 
and hence presents sags or depressions, and a 
generally uneven alignment and grade, it will not 
be free from accumulations. Particular attention 
should be paid to the pipe-joints, which ought 
not only to show no signs of leakage of water, 
but ought to be made so as to remain perfectly 
and securely air-tight. If the pipe happens to 
be painted with white lead, a brown discoloration 
at the upper part of the pipe, near the joint, usu- 
ally indicates a leakage of sewer air. It should 
be ascertained if the main drain is trapped or left 



mSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 35 

untrapped; and if there is a trap, its size and shape 
must be noted. See also if there is a good-sized 
air-inlet just inside of the trap, leading to outdoors, 
to establish a circulation of air in the pipes. In- 
spect also the location of the air-inlet, note its dis- 
tance from windows, from the cold-air box of the 
heating-apparatus ; and if itterminates in a box with 
open grating in the sidewalk, see whether the open- 
ing is not obstructed by dirt, or in winter-time by ice 
or snow. If the trap is accessible, — but it usually 
is not, although it is important that it should be, 
— have it opened and examined ; and this is a 
quite convenient point to test the free flow of the 
soil and waste pipes, and drains. It should be 
observed, when the trap is placed inside the cellar 
walls, if the cover of the inspection opening closes 
air-tight. 

Having examined the main drain, all its various 
branches in the cellar must be spotted out, and 
carefully scrutinized as to size, material, joints, 
grade, and manner of connection with the main 
drain ; T-branches always being quite objection- 
able and inadmissible in good work. Drain-pipes 



36 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

removing the surface water from front and rear 
yards and from basement areas must be included 
in the examination. It is very important to inquire 
into the method of trapping such wastes, for here 
evaporation of the water-seal is a frequent occur- 
rence. The removal of rain-water from the roof 
should also be properly performed. In old houses 
the soil-pipe is frequently made to do service as a 
conductor pipe ; in which case the danger of si- 
phonage of traps under fixtures is much increased. 
In houses recently built, the leaders form separate 
pipes, placed either outside of the house, or some- 
times inside of the walls. The method of trap- 
ping such leaders must be diligently inquired into, 
especially if their tops open near attic windows 
or close to a light-and-air shaft. 

Following the examination of the house-drain, 
the soil-pipe must be traced throughout its whole 
course, and examined as to its soundness and ven- 
tilation ; and this inspection is often rendered quite 
difficult where pipes are hidden from view, as is 
the case in older houses, where they are commonly 
built into the walls, and very difficult of access. 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 37 

Much time is often lost in trying to trace the 
course of such inaccessible pipes. Soil-pipes of 
lead prevail in older buildings, and are generally 
found honeycombed and corroded by foul gases, 
owing to the utter want of proper ventilation ; 
for the soil-pipe usually stops at the highest fix- 
ture, or has, at best, a small and entirely insuffi- 
cient vent-pipe extended up to the roof. For this 
reason it is advisable, in old houses, always to have 
the soil-pipe completely exposed by tearing up the 
walls and removing the plastering. Soil-pipes of 
iron, insufficiently ventilated, are also sometimes 
honeycombed, and distribute sewer air through- 
out a house. Moreover, they are, as a rule, defec- 
tive in the joints. It should be borne in mind 
that every soil-pipe, and also every waste-pipe 
stack, ought to be made perfectly air and water 
tight, and be extended — without any bends if 
possible — at least full size through, and several 
feet above, the roof. On going up to the roof, it 
is easy to ascertain whether or not these conditions 
have been complied with. It is equally important 
to make sure that the free outlet above the roof 



38 SANITARY house-inspection: 

is not reduced in size, or obstructed by ventilating- 
caps, return-bends, or cowls. All of these are not 
only unnecessary, but bad at all times, and posi- 
tively harmful in winter-time when the top of the 
soil-pipe clogs through hoar-frost, causing siphon- 
age of traps, or forcing of traps by back-pressure, 
in houses where the plumbing is otherwise well 
arranged. This is especially likely to happen if 
the fresh-air inlet opens in a box in the sidewalk, 
and has the grating of its opening obstructed or 
closed by mud and snow. While on the roof, it 
should also be noted if the soil-pipe terminates 
near chimney-flues, or shafts of any kind serving 
for ventilation. It should be ascertained whether 
the soil-pipe is put together with light or heavy 
iron pipes, whether it is entirely free from flaws 
or cracks, and whether the joints are well made 
and perfectly tight. The same care is, as a matter 
of course, required in examining vertical lines of 
waste-pipes. It is of advantage to test the sound- 
ness of the whole pipe-system by applying either 
the smoke test, or the peppermint test, or else a 
test by means of a force-pump and a pressure- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 39 

gauge. The water-pressure test, consisting in 
filling all pipes up to a certain level with water, 
valuable as it is for new work, is difficult of 
application in testing plumbing - work in old 
houses. I shall not need to enter into a detailed 
description of the above tests, as they have been 
sufficiently explained in handbooks of house- 
drainage : I shall only speak, in a few words, about 
the peppermint test, which is easily applied by 
laymen, and the indications of which are exceed- 
ingly useful. The extremely pungent, volatile 
essences of oil of peppermint are well-known to 
everybody. It is obvious that if such oil of pep- 
permint is introduced into a system of house- 
drainage, the slightest leak may easily be revealed 
by the smell escaping into the house. The best 
place to introduce the peppermint is at the roof; 
for, if poured into a water-closet or slop-sink at 
the upper floor of a house, the smell would be too 
readily diffused from this fixture directly into the 
house, and thus would interfere with the proper 
search for leaks. The fresh-air inlet would, in 
some cases, constitute a handy place for the intro- 



40 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

duction of the oil ; but in this case all front win- 
dows ought to be kept closed during the test. In 
any case, it is important that the peppermint be 
not carried much about the house ; and it is abso- 
lutely necessary that the helper who pours the oil 
remains out-of-doors, or at the roof, until the test 
is concluded, for otherwise he would carry the 
pungent odor attaching to his clothes into the 
house. Three or four ounces of pure peppermint 
oil are quite sufficient, and should be followed up 
immediately with a few pails of very hot or boil- 
ing water. In order to confine the volatile oil in 
the pipes, it is well to close, during the test, the 
openings of all soil and waste pipes above the 
roof. Meanwhile, the inspector or the house- 
holder follows up each line of waste and vent pipe, 
and observes if any smell appears at any fixture, 
in order to determine, at least approximately, the 
location of a leak. No fixture should be dis- 
charged or used in the house during this test, 
as the disturbance of the water-level in the trap 
may liberate some of the smell of peppermint. 
The smoke test — in which smoke is forced, by 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 4I 

means of a blower, into a house-drain — is supe- 
rior to the test described, only in so far as it fixes 
exactly, by the appearance of the smoke, the loca- 
tion of the leak. Other means have been pro- 
posed, from time to time, to test the soundness 
of pipes and traps. It is said that musk, intro- 
duced from out-doors into the drains, is readily 
diffused, and discloses leakages. It is also con- 
tended, that, if acetate of lithium or tellurium is 
passed through soil-pipes, their presence or es- 
cape may be detected in the house, by means of 
the spectroscope, by their characteristic lines. It 
is evident that such tests, while useful, are not so 
practical, because 'requiring the use of delicate 
and expensive optical instruments. 

Having examined the pipe-system, the next 
step is to inspect the plumbing-fixtures, their 
waste-pipes, traps, and connections with the main 
pipes. To do this efficiently and thoroughly, in- 
volves the removal of all wood-work about sinks, 
basins, water-closets, and slop-hoppers. The con- 
dition of the enclosed spaces and of the wood- 
work should be carefully noticed, and will, as a 



42 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

rule, be found to show much foulness, dirt, and 
dampness from leakage. The material and par- 
ticular construction of every plumbing appliance 
must be inspected in detail. The sizes of waste- 
pipes and of traps must be noted ; and also — <■ 
although this is a matter of some difficulty — the 
thickness and weight of the lead pipes. Joints 
should be closely examined, — those between lead 
pipes, which should be wiped and not bolted 
joints ; and those between lead and iron pipes, 
which must be made by means of a brass ferrule. 
The servants' water-closet will usually be found 
in the cellar, and, as a rule, is a sadly neglected 
corner, rendered foul from spillage, sloppage, 
leakage, and slovenliness in use, and utterly with- 
out means of ventilation. The fixture is, in most 
cases, a cheap and unsatisfactory hopper-closet, 
with rough iron surface, rendered foul by an 
insufficient flush from a supply valve operated 
automatically by a depression of the seat, or by a 
pull-up arrangement which is often forgotten by 
servants. Sometimes the servants' closet is an 
equally objectionable pan-closet with feeble valve- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 43 

flush. The fixtures in the basement are the 
laundry tubs, the kitchen sink, and possibly a 
wash-basin. If the laundry tubs are of wood, 
they often emit a foul smell, due to absorption of 
organic matter and filth, and present a more or less 
rotten interior. The trap is usually too large, and 
probably half-choked with soapsuds and accumula- 
tion of sediment. It may not be protected against 
siphonage, loss of seal by momentum, or back- 
pressure. In other instances it is entirely absent. 
The joint of the lead waste-pipe with the main 
drain is often imperfectly made with putty or cem- 
ent. Kitchen sinks in older houses are usually 
trapped by a bell-trap attached to the loose sink- 
strainer, which is either displaced or lost, thus 
allowing the free entrance of sewer-air. The 
kitchen sink often discharges into a large base- 
ment grease-trap choked with putrid fat, and 
always objectionable. The parlor floor seldom 
contains any other fixtures than a pantry sink near 
the dining-room, with the usual defects relating 
to piping, trapping, and ventilation. 

The bathroom requires careful search for de- 



44 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

fects. Not only is the water-closet usually of a 
bad construction, and defective in workmanship, 
with an ill-arranged seat, and no ventilation to the 
apartment, but the wash-basin and the bath-tub 
have each waste-pipes without traps near the 
fixtures, the wastes being trapped only by being 
run into the almost always foul water-closet trap. 
Besides having long lengths of slimy and foul 
waste-pipes in direct communication with the room, 
both fixtures have hidden overflow channels; and, 
moreover, the almost universal dirty plug and 
chain arrangement is used. Water-closets situ- 
ated in the centre of the house ought always to 
be looked upon with suspicion, unless plenty of 
ventilation is provided for by artificial means ; and 
if they are fitted up with a " patent disinfecting 
apparatus," there is all the more reason for dis- 
trusting them. 

It is astonishing to see what a number of well- 
educated people commit the blunder of trusting 
to such worthless devices, which are nothing more 
than disguisers of the odor, or, at the best, mere 
stink destroyers. Instead of striking at the root 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 45 

of the evil, by removing a foul trap or defective 
water-closet, and by arranging the soil-pipe with a 
proper circulation of air, much money is uselessly 
thrown away in buying such " quack " remedies. 
It is time that the public should know, that, valu- 
able as the sense of smell may be as an indica- 
tion that something is wrong, it is not so much the 
smell which causes serious harm. Sewer air may 
be entirely deprived, by deodorizers or otherwise, 
of its characteristic odor, and yet be able to cause 
serious illness. It is far from me to underestimate 
the value of real disinfection in cases of infectious 
disease ; but true disinfectants must destroy the 
organic impurities and germs of disease, and 
not merely disguise a bad smell. What we need 
more than any thing else in our homes, and in 
particular at our plumbing-fixtures, is cleanliness 
and pure air. A daily application of hot water, 
soap, and a scrubbing-brush, a good flush, and 
plenty of ventilation, are quite sufficient to keep 
any wat6f-closet or slop-hopper sweet under all 
ordinary circumstances. If a zymotic disease is 
in the house, or an epidemic raging in a city. 



4-6 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

then it is time for disinfection by strong chemical 
disinfectants. 

As a rule, the separation of the water-closet from 
the bath is desirable in city houses, unless there 
are a larger number of bath-rooms connected with 
dressing-rooms. This does not, however, neces- 
sarily imply that the bath and the water-closet 
should have separate vertical waste-pipes. They 
may discharge into the same soil-pipe, but pref- 
erably through independent outlets. A multipli- 
cation of water-closets or other fixtures is not, 
however, desirable, especially if they would not 
be constantly used. Urinals are, as a rule, offen- 
sive and difficult to clean, and they should not be 
tolerated at all in private houses. Pan-closets, 
found even to-day in finer houses, with otherwise 
good plumbing-work, are generators of sewer air, 
and in every way an abomination. But, whatever 
the kind of apparatus used, it should be closely 
inspected, especially as regards the condition of 
the wood-work enclosing fixtures, and ^so as to 
leakage, trapping, and flushing. The flush should 
always be derived from a special water-closet cis- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 47 

tern, and the inspector should ascertain if the 
overflow from this cistern is properly arranged. 
If the water-closet has a trap below the floor, its 
condition should be noted, and the joint at the 
floor inspected, which is often leaky, owing to the 
sagging of the trap. At other times the trap is 
found to have tipped to one side, thus causing the 
loss of the water-seal. Safe-pipes from water- 
closet trays are often found running into the trap 
of the closet, an arrangement as imperfect as it 
is dangerous. On the upper floor of a house we 
often find a slop-sink, usually in a very foul con- 
dition, insufficiently trapped, and without ventila- 
tion to the usually dark and stuffy closet in which 
it is placed. It is so often overlooked by builders, 
that slop-hoppers require a strong flush to keep 
the sides of the vessel clean, and that they should 
have a fixed strainer to prevent obstructions. 

Of all the fixtures in a house, however, none 
demand a closer investigation than the "set" 
wash-basins, located, in city houses, between the 
front and rear bedrooms. Objectionable as such 
fixtures are in any case in sleeping-rooms, they 



48 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

are rendered still more so by the bad planning 
and arrangement of their waste-pipes. Their 
traps, usually of much too large calibre, and hence 
forming miniature cesspools, are easily siphoned/ 
or rendered useless by evaporation or back-press- 
ure, by tipping over, or loss of seal by capillary 
attraction, caused by hair or lint hanging over the 
bend of the trap. Their waste-pipes are carried, 
with rare exceptions, almost horizontally across 
floors and halls to the soil-pipe, or into the water- 
closet trap. The space under the basins is tightly 
boxed up, or, if accessible, is used to hide away 
all sorts of used-up household articles; and the 
enclosed space sadly lacks ventilation. It is usu- 
ally damp, full of dust, or even filthy. Moreover, 
the leaden tray or " safe," arranged to prevent 
damage to ceilings caused by leakage or acciden- 
tal overflow, is provided with an untrapped " drip- 
pipe" ; or, if the latter is trapped, the trap is ren- 
dered useless by evaporation. Particular care is 
necessary wherever such traps are so arranged as 
to be supplied by small feed-pipes. The latter 
often stop up through sediment, or fail to work 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 49 

from some cause or other, and hence should always 
be considered objectionable as giving a false sense 
of security. It is only in houses built within the 
last five years, that we find drip-pipes entirely dis- 
connected from the foul pipe-system of the house. 
Even then it is advisable to test such drip-pipes, 
as well as disconnected overflow pipes, by pour- 
ing water through them to ascertain their true 
course, and to locate the outlet of each of them ; 
above all, to make sure against " dummy " pipes. 
Much the best plan is to do away entirely with 
safes and safe-wastes ; for they form channels of 
communication between various parts of a house, 
and often carry offensive odors from the basement 
or kitchen into bedrooms or bathrooms. 

I have not attempted to give an exhaustive list 
of defects in the drainage or in the plumbing, but 
have simply called attention to some of the graver 
mistakes frequently found in even the better class 
of houses. Amongst other not less serious de- 
fects frequently incurred, I may mention: broken 
drains ; drains improperly laid, or without proper 
foundation, or with fall the wrong way ; old cess- 



50 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

pools under houses, forming a perfect gasometer 
for poisonous gases and noxious emanations ; bad- 
ly jointed pipes ; choked pipes and traps ; pipes 
obstructed by entrance of tree-roots ; junctions 
made by cutting, roughly, holes into pipes ; bends 
in drains made with straight pipes instead of with 
elbow-fittings ; soil-pipes joined to the drain with 
T-branches instead of curves or Y-branches ; traps 
placed at the foot of vertical soil or waste pipes ; 
vent-pipes or soil-pipes run into flues, and often 
obstructed by soot ; upper ends of soil-pipes stop- 
ping below the roof, inside of the house ; lower 
ends of soil-pipes broken off by drain settling ; 
house-drains not connected at all with the sewer ; 
extensions of vent-pipes or soil-pipes through the 
roof, made with galvanized sheet-iron pipes and 
loose " slip " joints ; all kinds of by - passes in 
vented traps, whereby traps are rendered useless, 
and sewer air finds an exit into rooms ; dummy 
vent-pipes ; connections between ventilation-pipes 
at the house side of traps, with soil or vent pipes ; 
soil-pipes terminating near, or on a level with, 
ventilating-shafts, chirfiney-flues, or below dormer 



nvSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 5 1 

windows ; nails driven into lead soil or vent pipes ; 
refrigerator wastes having a direct connection with 
a sewer or drain ; iron soil-pipes full of sand-holes 
covered with tar or asphalt ; split hubs in iron soil- 
pipes ; all kind of defective and fraudulent joints ; 
traps placed at a distance from fixtures ; one trap 
only used for several fixtures ; the double trapping 
of fixtures ; traps unsealed by tipping ; reservoir 
and cesspool traps ; D-traps ; gullies with bell- 
traps ; untrapped overflow pipes ; waste-pipes with 
fall the wrong way; connection of overflow and 
vent pipes ; sink-pipes choked with grease ; leader 
pipes used to carry off foul wastes ; untrapped 
leader pipes opening near upper windows ; defec- 
tive water-closet apparatus ; concealed or secret 
waste or overflow arrangements ; and water-tanks 
placed in improper places, for instance, in the 
same apartment with the slop-hopper. 

It may here be remarked, that the popular no- 
tion that " sewer gas " is a specific gas is a fallacy; 
and the question often asked by people, how the 
presence of " sewer gas " may, by some easy test, 
be detected in a room, is absurd. It should be un- 



52 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTIOiV. 

derstood that there is no such thing as " sewer 
gas," and what is usually so called should more 
correctly be named sewer air, for it is simply air 
more or less contaminated by products of decom- 
position emanating from foul vessels or fixtures , 
from sink, waste, and soil pipes ; from ho use - 
drains,' street-sewers, privy-vaults, cesspools, etc. 
Sewer air, in other words, is an ever-varying mix- 
ture of gases ; and of those that are deleterious 
the more prominent are sulphuretted hydrogen, 
sulphide of ammonium, and carburetted hydro- 
gen ; while ammonia, carbonic acid, and occa- 
sionally carbonic oxide derived from leakage of 
illuminating gas into sewers, are present in more 
or less large proportions. The effects caused by 
breathing such impure air are nausea, vomiting, 
a general feeling of discomfort, loss of appetite, 
sometimes blood-poisoning, and a reduced state 
of health, which renders the body more prone to 
attacks of zymotic disease. The real danger con- 
sists much more in the dirt and dust, particles of 
organic matter, and living microscopic organisms 
(the germs of disease) floating in sewer air, and 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 53 

causing the outbreak or the spread of some pre- 
ventable diseases, such as diphtheria, typhoid-fever, 
cholera, diseases of the bowels, etc. Though the 
sense of smell occasionally may afford a warning 
as to the presence of deleterious gases escaping 
through imperfect pipes and fixtures, yet it should 
not be relied upon ; for invisible poisons, fre- 
quently the most dangerous, are often present 
in our homes. 

INSPECTION OF THE WATER-SUPPLY. 

The water-pipes, faucets, the kitchen-boiler, 
and water-tank must all be included in the exam- 
ination of the plumbing-work. See, first, whether 
the water-supply is constant on all floors of the 
house ; and, should the pressure in the mains 
be insufficient to accomplish this, see if a cis- 
tern and a force-pump of some kind are pro- 
vided. As to the water-pipes, observe if they 
are carelessly arranged, unprotected against freez- 
ing, or even buried in the wall, rendering it diffi- 
cult to trace them throughout their whole course. 
Note if all water-pipes are run with a continuous 



54 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

grade, so that they may be completely emptied 
if desired. To accomplish this, there should be 
a stop and waste cock in the cellar, located near 
the point where the water-pipe enters the house. 
Joints in water-pipes, if these are of lead, are often 
improperly made, and the pipes carelessly run 
without beinpf well fastened to boards with metal 
tacks. Joints in brass or iron pipes are often 
leaky. The kitchen-boiler may also be leaky or 
patched up, showing that it has previously been 
bursted, owing probably to a defective arrange- 
ment of the hot-water supply system. The tank 
in the attic requires particular consideration, as 
the water in it is easily rendered foul by an over- 
flow connection to a soil-pipe, or by drawing 
the flushing-water for water-closet valves directly 
from it, instead of using proper waste-preventing 
cisterns over each closet, supplied from a self- 
closing ball-cock. A thick mud is frequently 
found at the bottom of drinking-water tanks : 
hence, such tanks should always be placed in a 
position where they are easily got at for cleaning 
and examination. If it is likely that the water 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 55 

for drinking or cooking purposes be drawn from 
the tank in the attic, it should be frequently 
emptied, and its bottom and sides scrubbed and 
cleaned. It is important to ascertain if drinking- 
water tanks are properly lined with tinned cop- 
per or slate, and not with lead or galvanized iron. 
As regards the supply to bath-tubs, this should 
always be over the top of the tank, and not by 
a mixing- valve at its bottom. A plan of the 
house, drawn to scale, and showing in detail all 
the drains, soil and waste-pipes, service-pipes, 
stop-cocks, hand-holes, traps, etc., is of course a 
great aid in making a sanitary house-inspection, 
but it is very seldom that it is available. 

INSPECTION OF THE METHOD OF GARBAGE DISPOSAL. 

Having completed the examination of the 
plumbing and drainage, the next point requiring 
attention is the proper removal of the solid house- 
refuse, which ought never to be attempted by aid 
of the sewers and drain-pipes. There should be 
two distinct receptacles, — one for ashes only, and 
the other for kitchen offal and garbage. Much 



56 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

of the latter may be disposed of in a simple, yet 
efficient manner, by being dried, and burned in the 
kitchen range. Ashes and garbage ought to be 
removed from houses by entirely separate scav- 
enger carts. Swill-pails, as well as ash-barrels, 
should not be of wood, but of galvanized iron, 
circular in shape, fitted with a well-closing cover, 
and kept at all times most scrupulously clean. 

INSPECTION OF THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR WARMING 
THE HOUSE. 

The next step in the inspection is to look into 
the arrangements for warming the house. Defec- 
tive heating and ventilating arrangements may be 
the cause of debility, nervousness, and general 
loss of strength and health, as well as of pulmo- 
nary diseases ; and hence it is very important to 
inquire with care into this matter. The heating- 
apparatus most usual in city houses is the warm- 
air furnace, but sometimes we find a steam-heat- 
ing or a hot-water apparatus used. All these are 
placed in the cellar of the house, in a central 
position. Local heating by stoves is common in 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 57 

smaller houses, or is adopted for minor rooms of 
larger houses ; openings being provided in chim- 
ney-flues to receive the stove-pipe, leading smoke 
and gases of combustion from the stove into the 
chimney. In the principal rooms of the better 
class of houses, we also find an auxiliary heating- 
apparatus ; namely, the open fire-place. Stoves, 
being usually a part of the movable furniture of a 
household, need not here be considered ; and as 
regards fire-places, the examination may be con- 
fined to the arrangement and size of the flues. 
It should be noted whether the fire-place is of the 
ordinary kind or one of the improved, so-called 
ventilating fire-places, in which case the channel 
for the admission of fresh air should be inspected. 
Much more important is the detailed examination 
of the warm-air furnace in the cellar, or the steam- 
boiler or hot-water apparatus. Note whether the 
furnace is portable or set in brickwork ; whether 
constructed of wrought-iron, soapstone, cast-iron, 
or of a combination of wrought and cast iron. 
Measure the dimensions of the furnace, to get at 
an approximate estimate of its available radiating 



58 SANITARY house-inspection: 

surface. See to it that the furnace is of proper 
size, so as to heat the house comfortably without 
being at any time overheated, or delivering too hot 
air into the rooms. Carefully examine the joints 
of the furnace (the fewer there are the better), 
and see if they have not become untight, owing 
to contraction and expansion of the metal. Look 
for leaks in the furnace at other places than the 
joints, and observe the construction of the fire-pot, 
and whether it is lined properly with fire-brick ; 
for such a lining does good service in preventing 
excessive overheating of the metal. Next, take 
a look at the size and run of the smoke-pipe, 
and note the presence or absence of a damper in 
it. See also if ample provision is made for the 
evaporation of water. A mixing arrangement for 
cold air from the air-chamber, and warm air to 
regulate at will the temperature of the air en- 
tering the rooms through the registers, is very 
desirable, but seldom applied to warm-air furnace 
apparatus. Above all, look for the cold-air box. 
Its absence is a cardinal defect in all central heat- 
ing-apparatus, as it is positively wrong to take 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 5g 

the air-supply to the Hving and sleeping- rooms 
from the cellar ; for, except in houses where un- 
usual care is taken to ventilate the latter properly, 
its atmosphere is a mixture of noxious emanations 
from a filthy cellar closet, of sewer-air passing 
up from a dried-up gully- trap, assisted by the 
suction of the house-chimneys, and possibly gases 
of decay emanating from rotten vegetables or for- 
gotten house-refuse. If there is a cold-air box 
to the heating-apparatus, see of what material 
it consists, and how it is constructed and put 
together. Exarriine carefully for cracks or imper- 
fect joints. Wooden air-boxes are not to be 
recommended on this account, besides being 
dangerous on account of fire. If the cold-air 
channel is located below the cellar floor, it is 
advisable to open it to ascertain whether the 
channel is sufficient in size, smooth, and clean, 
and unobstructed, and kept perfectly dry. If 
ground water is liable to rise to near the height 
of the channel, the cold air should preferably be 
admitted by a channel situated near the cellar ceil- 
ing. All air-boxes form convenient receptacles 



6o SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

for dirt, insects, cobwebs, dust, and organic impu- 
rities, and hence ought to be made, if possible, 
accessible, so as to be cleaned from time to time. 
Most important of all is the opening of the cold- 
air box to the outer atmosphere. In city houses 
it is preferable to locate it at the rear of the house, 
in order to take the air from the yard, thereby 
avoiding the dust from the street. The opening 
should not be near the level of the ground, ter- 
minating at a cellar window ; nor should it be near 
any ventilating-pipe for drains, near a yard gully 
or yard privy, or a cesspool ; nor should the ash- 
barrel, dust-bin, or any accumulation of rubbish be 
allowed near it. It is preferable to have the inlet 
placed at least ten feet above the level of the yard ; 
and its opening should always, and especially if 
only a few feet above the ground, be suitably pro- 
tected by wire netting against entrance of cats, 
rats, mice, or vermin. Wherever the air is loaded 
with street dust or particles of soot or impurities, 
it may be well to filter the air by means of cotton- 
wads placed at the entrance of the cold-air box. 
These, however, require frequent renewal, as they 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 6l 

soon clog, and obstruct the free admission of air. 
It is also well to have in the cold-air channel a 
movable slide to regulate the amount of air ad- 
mitted to the furnace. The size of the channel 
should be ascertained, and its proportion to the 
aggregate cross sectional area of all hot-air pipes. 
The hot-air flues should next be examined, their 
size and course, as well as their length and grade, 
noted ; and it should be remembered that hori- 
zontal hot-air pipes should not generally exceed 
from twelve to fifteen feet in length. Since short 
lengths of horizontal pipes and vertical flues draw 
much better than long horizontal pipes to the first- 
floor registers, an even and nearly equal draught 
in all pipes should be established by means of 
valves or dampers, and by rightly proportioning 
the sizes of the various hot-air pipes and flues. 
Examine the position of the inlets for warm air in 
the room, — whether located in the floor, in the 
wall near the bottom or near the ceiling, or at an 
intermediate height. The size and construction 
of the register boxes require attention ; and, 
wherever registers are placed in the floor, it is 



62 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

advisable to remove them, and to examine the 
interior of the hot-air pipe, which will usually be 
found to be far from clean. Hot-air flues open- 
ing in the floor are always objectionable, because 
much dirt and dust must of necessity fall into 
them. In all rooms heated by warm-air flues, look 
for and examine the outlets provided for removal 
of impure air ; for no central heating-apparatus 
will work well unless both inlets as well as outlets 
are provided. 

In the case of houses heated by low-pressure 
steam-heating apparatus, it is important to examine 
whether the heating is accomplished wholly or 
partly by direct radiation (that is, by having heat- 
ing surfaces, pipe or box coils, placed in the rooms 
to be warmed) ; or by indirect radiation, in which 
case coils of pipe are placed at the cellar ceiling, as 
nearly as possible directly under the rooms to be 
warmed, and fresh air led by cold-air boxes from 
the outside to such coils, where it is warmed to the 
requisite temperature. The latter is sometimes 
regulated by having a number of steam coils, into 
each of which steam may be turned, and which can 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 63 

be shut off in sections at pleasure by means of 
valves. From here the warmed air is delivered to 
the rooms by means of hot-air flues in all respects 
similar to those used for furnace-heating. With 
radiators placed in the rooms, steam-pipes must be 
carried to the upper floors, sometimes all over a 
house. The size and construction of the radiators, 
and of the pipes supplying- them with steam, should 
in this case be examined ; the coils should be free 
from dust ; search ought to be made for leaky 
joints and valves, and particular attention paid 
to the question of fresh-air supply. If air is ad- 
mitted from the outside, and warmed at the radia- 
tors, which are then usually placed in the window 
recesses, the system is the so-called direct-indirect 
radiation ; and the channel for fresh air should be 
examined, its size noted, and its opening to the 
outer air inspected to make sure that it may not 
draw its supply from impure sources. It is im- 
portant, for sanitary reasons as well as for the sake 
of economy in the use of steam, to have all steam- 
pipes in the cellar properly covered with some 
good non-conducting material. This is, moreover, 



64 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

a very necessary precaution against fire in all 
cases where steam-pipes pass close to woodwork. 

The close and detailed inspection of the steam- 
boiler is very important ; but it is a matter requir- 
ing skill, knowledge of the mechanical construction 
of the apparatus, and experience in the use and 
application of steam and the combustion of fuel, 
and it is recommended to call in the aid of an 
expert in boiler-construction and boiler-manage- 
ment. This inspector should ascertain, by inspec- 
tion and hammer-test, that the boiler is properly 
constructed, that it has no weak place, and that it 
is kept in a good condition, free from corrosion, 
from incrustations, sediment, and dirt or other 
defects. If necessary, the boiler should be tested 
by forcing in water under a heavy pressure. It 
should be noted if all joints and packings are 
tight ; if the feeding-apparatus, if such is used, is 
in proper working order ; if all trimmings and 
appendages are complete ; especially if the gauge- 
cocks and glass gauges are working easily, and the 
steam-guage and safety-valve are kept clean, and 
working regularly and easily. Examine all pipes 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 65 

and cocks with care, to ascertain that they are not 
in any way obstructed ; examine also the draught- 
regulator, the fire-box, the grate and ash-pan, the 
smoke-flues and dampers, — all of which should be 
swept, or kept free from soot, slag, or ashes. Brass 
trimmings ought to be kept bright and polished. 
No cotton - waste or oil rags should be lying 
around the boiler, as they may cause fire by spon- 
taneous combustion. The floor and walls around 
the boiler ought to be kept neat and clean, and 
free from standing water. Persons living in a 
house fitted up with a steam-heating boiler should 
remember, that, to prevent accidents or danger 
to property and life, it is safest and best to have 
a periodical inspection of it made, at least once 
a year, to ascertain if the boiler may be used 
with safety. Particular care should be taken with 
steam-heating boilers, if they are put out of use 
during the spring and summer, to prevent corro- 
sion of the boiler or any of its parts. This may 
be accomplished either by keeping the boiler filled 
with water, or, better still, by nearly filling it with 
water, then adding to it a few gallons of pur^ 



66 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

mineral oil so as to quite fill the boiler, and then 
drawing off the water, whereby all the interior 
surfaces of the boiler will come in contact with 
the oil. Thus oiled, the boiler should be kept 
perfectly dry and closed, until the fire is again 
started in the fall of the year. 

Similar hints and cautions might be given with 
regard to hot-water apparatus ; but inasmuch as 
this is not usually adopted in city houses of aver- 
age size, although possessing some advantages 
over a steam-heating apparatus, we will be con- 
tent with a mere mention of the apparatus. 

INSPECTION OF THE GAS-LIGHTING ARRANGEMENTS. 

The next subject of inquiry should be the 
means arranged for lighting the house with illu- 
minating-gas. This is conveyed to the building 
under pressure, by a main gas-pipe, and distrib- 
uted throughout the house by a network of 
small wrought-iron service-pipes, put together 
with screw-joints and suitable malleable-iron fit- 
tings. To get at an idea of the distribution of 
sizes of gas-pipes in a finished house is generally 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 6/ 

Utterly impossible, owing to the universal habit of 
burying all gas-pipes in walls, in partitions, and 
between floor-joists : yet the illumination of the 
house will to a great extent depend upon a proper 
arrangement of the pipe system ; pipes of too 
small calibre being objectionable, and frequently 
choking up and causing the flow of gas to be per- 
ceptibly obstructed. All pipes should be run with 
a slight continuous fall towards the meter, to avoid 
anywhere in the system a depression which would 
accumulate water, and cause the trapping of the 
pipes. Wherever a gas-pipe passes from a warm 
room into one of much colder temperature, it may 
be well to arrange a pocket with movable plug to 
enable the removal of water from condensation. 
As to the gas-meter, see if it is set perfectly level, 
and located in a cool place in the cellar ; for 
changes of temperature will cause a given quan- 
tity of gas to occupy different space, hence may 
affect the correct registering of the gas-meter. It 
is equally important that freezing of the meter be 
prevented ; as otherwise constant annoyances, and 
even serious trouble, may occur in winter-time. I 



68 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

may here remark, that a gas-meter, measuring the 
volume of gas burned during a given time, is not, 
in reahty, a just measuring apparatus by which to 
regulate the total cost of the gas consumed ; for, 
strictly, the price of gas should be fixed according 
to its specific weight, and, above all, according to 
its candle-power. 

Not infrequently defects in the gas-piping, 
seams, flaws, or pin-holes in pipes, leaky joints, 
bad fittings, or defective gas-fixtures, exist in 
houses ; and slight, and sometimes imperceptible, 
leakages, more commonly than most people would 
imagine, either at burners or at joints, contribute 
a share to the constant contamination of the air in 
city houses. For a slight and scarcely percepti- 
ble escape of the gas causes a peculiar smell, quite 
unlike the well-known, strong, and pungent odor 
of coal-gas. Since illuminating-gas contains a 
number of hurtful elements, especially carbonic 
oxide, the inhaling of such air, polluted by slight 
but constant leakage, is very injurious to health. 
If larger quantities of gas escape, and mix with 
the air in rooms, they bring with them the danger 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 69 

of explosions, not to mention the annoyance of 
exorbitant gas-bills. If a decided smell of gas is 
apparent, or a large leak suspected anywhere, 
search should never be made for it with a lamp 
or candle, to avoid the danger of an explosion. 
The first thing to do is to shut off the gas at the 
meter ; then to open all windows, particularly the 
upper sash ; and then to search for the leak. 
Likewise, gas-meters should never be inspected 
or examined after dark, by lighting a match or 
otherwise. 

It is always well, before entering upon occu- 
pancy of a house, to have the gas pipes and fix- 
tures carefully tested. A very simple way of 
ascertaining if leakage of coal-gas is going on is 
to make sure that no lights are burning, and to 
watch the small index-hand of the gas-meter for 
several succeeding hours. This can be readily 
done, even by laymen. Another method is to fix 
to a burner a water-gauge, a glass tube with legs 
at least three inches long, bent in the shape of the 
letter U, half filled with water. The cock of the 
burner should be turned on, when the difference 



/O SANITARY HOUSE-WSPECTlON. 

of water-level in both legs will indicate the press- 
ure of gas in the pipes. The gas should then be 
turned off at the meter; and, if the water in the 
gauge now remains steady, the pipes and fittings 
are tight ; but, should it slowly descend until it 
again stands level in both legs, there is a leak 
somewhere. Of course it is important to know 
that the main cock at the meter shuts perfectly 
tight, and this should be tested independently. 

The best test of the gas-piping is by means of 
a gasfitter's pump and a mercury-gauge. To 
locate a leak, sulphuric ether is sometimes used ; 
but as the sense of smell is inferior to the sense 
of sight, in exactly locating a leakage, it is better 
to apply soapsuds to the joints, when a leak will 
be readily indicated by soap-bubbles. To do this 
in a finished house, requires, of course, first the 
locating of a leak at least approximately, so as to 
avoid the tearing up of too many floor-boards, or 
the cutting of plaster, or removal of expensive 
wall-papers. 

Even with a perfectly tight system of gas-piping 
and gas-burners, the atmosphere is contaminated 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 71 

by the combustion of the gas. If this combustion 
be perfect, and the gas furnished perfectly purified, 
the only products would be carbonic acid and 
water ; and if, by ceiling ventilation and by the aid 
of the heat of the gas-flames, the removal of both 
is provided for, no evil results may be apprehended. 
But, for various reasons, the combustion of gas- 
flames is usually quite incomplete, and the gas 
often but imperfectly purified ; and hence injurious 
gases, compounds of sulphur and of ammonia, 
besides carbonic oxide, escape into the room. 
This explains why so many complaints are often 
made as to the disadvantages of gas-lighting, — 
amongst them that the air becomes loaded with 
noxious vapors, injurious to the human constitu- 
tion ; and that gas-light causes damage to books, 
pictures, furniture ; and that heat is produced out 
of all proportion to the illumination. 

It should be borne in mind, that the intensity of 
the light obtained depends not so much upon the 
quantity of gas consumed as upon the conditions 
under which it is burned. It is stated by good 
authorities, that, of all the gas passing a meter, 



72 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION'. 

from thirty to fifty per cent is not infrequently 
wasted by imperfect combustion. As chief causes 
of this waste may be taken an excessive press- 
ure at the burners, bad burners, and unsuitable 
arrangements of glass globes and fittings. In 
inspecting a house, it should therefore be noted 
if it is located on high ground; and, if possible, 
the pressure of gas on the house side of the meter 
should be ascertained. The greatest amount of 
light from a given quantity of gas would be ob- 
tained if the flow of gas at the burner, and the 
flow of air to the flame, are slow, regular, steady, 
and uniform; the pressure at the burner being 
moderate, and not exceeding six-tenths of an inch 
of water-pressure. If, on the other hand, gas 
rushes from the burner, generally with a whizzing 
noise, under a high pressure, it mixes quickly 
with the air, and passes in an unconsumed state 
into the room ; the light is unsteady and flick- 
ering ; the flame jumps on account of unequal 
pressure ; and the illumination is bad, because not 
all the carbon has time to become incandescent. 
The air-supply being insufficient, smoke is pro- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 7^ 

duced, and blackens ceilings or walls, and the air 
is contaminated. If a single flame is kept burn- 
ing at night, the turning-off of a large number 
of flames in a district may suddenly increase the 
pressure at the burner so much that the flame 
jumps up very high, and may even set things on 
fire. Since the pressure of gas in the mains neces- 
sarily varies much at different times, and is almost 
always in cities in excess of what is required for 
economical and efficient illumination, it is advisable 
to regulate it by pressure governors or regulators, 
placed at the house side of the gas-meter. Even 
if no other results would be accomplished, the 
prevention of frequent breaka;ge of glass globes 
and the saving of gas are important considera- 
tions. From a sanitary point of view, the better 
illumination, and the prevention of air-contamina- 
tion from unconsumed gas passing through the 
burners, are of course to be more highly appre- 
ciated. 

Next in importance to the regulation of the 
gas-pressure is the choice of burners of suitable^ 
material, shape, and construction. The inspection 



74 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

should ascertain if the burners have metalHc or 
lava tips; the former being objectionable, because 
they rapidly corrode, besides abstracting much heat 
from the flame, owing to metal being a good con- 
ductor. Lava tips, too, may become obstructed, 
and thus will cause a diminution of the illuminating 
power of the light. It should be ascertained what 
kind of burners are provided, whether single-jet, 
fish-tail, or bat-wing burners. In the case of high 
flats, it may be advisable to use governor-burners 
in place of a governor at the meter in the cellar. 
Finally, the size and shape of the glass globes 
should be noted, since globes with narrow open- 
ing at the base do not admit sufficient air at a 
low velocity to insure a steady flame and a good 
illumination. 

INSPECTION OF THE VENTILATION OF THE HOUSE. 

Not the least important subject of inquiry is the 
ventilation of the house. The air in habitations 
is deteriorated (i) by a decrease in the amount 
of oxygen, by the breathing process of persons, 
and by artificial lighting; (2) by an increase of 



WSPECTION OF CITY HOtlSES, ^5 

carbonic acid and watery vapor; (3) by an increase 
of offensive particles, liberated by cutaneous per- 
spiration ; (4) by inorganic dust from outside and 
from inside, ashes from heating-apparatus, etc.; 
(5) t>y vegetable and animal organic and mineral 
floating impurities ; (6) by carbonic oxide from 
cracks and leaky joints of the heating- apparatus. 

Constant admission of pure air, and removal of 
foul air, are important everywhere, but nowhere 
more so than in the bedrooms, bathrooms, water- 
closet and slop-sink apartments ; in the staircase 
hall ; in pantries, larders, store-closets, where often 
a faint and musty odor may be detected ; in the 
closet for soiled linen ; in the tank-room ; in the 
laundry, where vapors of steam and soapsuds, 
mixed with particles of organic filth from soiled 
linen, contaminate the air ; in the kitchen, where 
odors from cooking, and the excessive heat of the 
range, often render existence intolerable ; and in 
the cellar, for cellar air is liable to rise, and to 
pervade the whole house. 

In questions of ventilation, it is well to remem- 
ber, that, to quote Charles Kingsley, — 



76 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

"Those who habitually take in fresh breath 
will probably grow up large, strong, cheerful, 
active, clear-headed, fit for their work. Those 
who habitually take in the breath which has been 
breathed out by themselves, or any other living 
creature, will certainly grow up, if they grow up 
at all, small, weak, nervous, depressed, unfit for 
work, and tempted continually to resort to stimu- 
lants, and become drunkards." 

The unwholesomeness of house-air cannot always 
be indicated by offensive odors, since deleterious 
elements of air possess neither a very decided nor 
always an unpleasant odor. It is well known that 
air which may carry with it fatal germs of disease 
may be entirely devoid of smell. Fire-places in 
all living and the principal bed rooms form a great 
aid in house ventilation, removing a large part of 
the air fouled by respiration and perspiration ; and 
therefore the throats of fire-places should always 
be kept entirely open. It should be noted, in 
inspecting a house, whether ceiling-ventilators are 
provided, which are desirable to remove the heated 
air contaminated by the combustion from gas- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 77 

burners, as well as hot, foul air rising to the ceil- 
ing in case rooms are crowded with guests. Fresh 
air should be admitted in ample quantity during 
the cold months, in connection with the heating- 
apparatus, either by means of cold-air chambers 
leading to the heating-apparatus in the cellar, or 
by cold-air ducts leading to the warm-air chamber 
of the ventilating fire-place in the room, or to 
coils of hot water or steam-radiators in rooms. It 
is necessary to add a sufficient amount of moisture 
to air heated by furnaces, steam, or hot-water coils. 
It is of the greatest importance to note if the pure 
air admitted is adequately and thoroughly dis- 
tributed in gentle currents without creating dan- 
gerous draughts, and properly diffused throughout 
the whole space of an apartment. Even with 
ample provision for air-supply and foul-air removal, 
it sometimes happens that currents of pure air 
take a nearly straight course directly to the foul- 
air outlets, without being diffused in the space to 
be ventilated. It is well, therefore, to pay atten- 
tion, in examining the ventilation of a building, to 
the probable movement of air-currents in rooms. 



78 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION, 

In the case of water-closet apartments, the provis- 
ion for a well-drawing outlet- flue to remove gases 
is more important than a pure-air supply, which 
will readily flow in from halls or adjoining rooms. 
If necessary, recourse should be had to gas- 
burners arranged in outlet-flues. A kitchen must 
never be without a large ventilating-flue, and the 
cooking-range must have a suitable hood con- 
nected with it. 

A detailed examination of the sufficiency of a 
system of ventilation would include the measure- 
ment of cubic space available for each person, 
and of the total volume of air supplied to a room 
per hour ; also the measurement of the size and 
position of the inlet and outlet flues. Besides 
this, it would be necessary to note the tempera- 
ture in various parts and heights of each room, 
to measure the degree of humidity of the air, and 
the purity of the air, not merely by the senses, 
although the indications given are also valuable, 
but also by chemical and microscopical analysis. 
Such an extended investigation is, fortunately, 
seldom required in the case of private houses, 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 79 

although it may be very important in the case of 
pubHc buildings. The sense of smell affords a 
good indication of the amount of ventilation in 
a room, on entering it from out-doors ; yet it can- 
not always be relied upon, and simple methods 
for determining the amount of carbonic-acid im- 
purity are always preferable. Such tests are 
readily performed, and may be of service, inas- 
much as the carbonic-acid impurity, while not in 
itself an indication of danger in the amounts 
found present in rooms, is a valuable indicator of 
the organic impurities in air fouled by respiration. 
A simple and handy apparatus for quickly mak- 
ing a qualitative test of the purity of air is the 
pocket apparatus designed by Professor Wolpert. 
It consists essentially of a glass test-tube with 
white bottom, and sighting-mark on the latter, 
and of an india-rubber bulb with glass tube 
attached, of a certain fixed capacity. The bulb 
is filled, by repeated squeezing, with air of the 
room ; while the test-tube is filled, up to a certain 
index-mark, with clear lime-water. The glass 
tube of the rubber bulb is then inserted into the 



80 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION, 

test-tube, and all the air squeezed out by a gentle 
pressure, and made to pass through the lime- 
water. This operation is repeated until a marked 
turbidity of the lime-water is apparent, and the 
sight-mark at the bottom of the test-tube dis- 
appears. The number of squeezes of the rubber 
bulb should be counted ; and, by referring to a 
small printed table accompanying the instrument, 
the corresponding amount of carbonic-acid im- 
purity in the air is readily ascertained. For in- 
stance, if fifty squeezes should be required, this 
would indicate the amount of carbonic acid to be 4 
parts per 10,000 parts ; in other words, the air 
would be about normal. If thirty squeezes are 
required, this corresponds to 6.6 parts of carbonic 
acid, or about the limit of allowable impurity in 
rooms. Twenty squeezes would indicate 10 parts 
carbonic acid per 10,000 volumes of air, and so 
on. The test is readily accomplished by anybody, 
and gives sufficiently accurate information to 
enable a person to judge of the character of the 
air in a room. 

Let no householder, who values the health of 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 8 1 

his family, underestimate the importance of house- 
ventilation. To the frequent question, " Why 
make all this fuss about ventilation ? Our fore- 
fathers got on very well without it," Charles Kings- 
ley, in his lecture, "The Two Breaths," answers: — - 
** Our ancestors did nothing of the kind. Our 
ancestors got on usually very ill in these matters ; 
and when they got on well it was because they 
had good ventilation in spite of themselves. First, 
they got on very ill. To quote a few remarkable 
cases of longevity, or to tell that men were larger 
and stronger on the average in old times, is to 
yield to the old fallacy of fancying that savages 
were peculiarly healthy, because those who were 
seen were active and strong. The simple answer 
is, that the strong alone survived, while the 
majority died from the severity of training. Sav- 
ages do not increase in number, and our ancestors 
increased but very slowly for many centuries. I 
am not going to disgust my audience with statis- 
tics of disease ; but knowing something, as I hap- 
pen to do, of the social state and of the health 
of the Middle Ages, I have no hesitation in saying 



82 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

that the average of disease and death was greater 
than it is now. Epidemics of many kinds — 
typhus, ague, plague, all diseases which were 
caused more or less by bad air — devastated this 
land and Europe in those days with a horrible 
intensity, to which even the choleras of our times 
are mild. The back streets, the hospitals, the 
jails, the barracks, the camps, — every place in 
which any large number of persons congregated, 
— were so many nests of pestilence engendered 
by uncleanliness, which defiled alike the water 
which was drunk, and the air which was breathed. 
And as a single fact, of which the tables of insur- 
ance companies assure us, the average of human 
life in England has increased twenty-five per cent 
since the reign of George I., owing simply to our 
more rational and cleanly habits of life, 

" But secondly I said, that, when our ancestors 
got on well, they did so because they got ventila- 
tion in spite of themselves. Luckily for them, 
their houses were ill-built, their doors and windows 
would not shut. They had lattice-windowed houses 
too, to live in ; one of which, as I can testify from 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 83 

long experience, is as thoroughly ventilating as 
living in a lantern with the glass broken out. It 
was because their houses were full of draughts, 
and still more, in the early Middle Ages, because 
they had no glass, and stopped out the air only by 
a shutter at night, that they sought for shelter 
rather than for fresh air, of which they sometimes 
had too much ; and, to escape the wind, built their 
houses in holes, such as that in which the old city 
of Winchester stands. Shelter, I believe, as much 
as the desire to be near fish in Lent, and to occupy 
the rich soil of the valleys, made the monks of old 
England choose the river-banks for the sites of 
their abbeys. They made a mistake therein, which, 
like most mistakes, did not go unpunished. These 
low situations, especially while the forests were yet 
thick on the hills around, were the perennial haunts 
of fever and ague, produced by subtle vegetable 
poisons, carried in the carbonic acid given off by 
rotten vegetation. So there again they fell in with 
man's old enemy, bad air. Still, as long as the 
doors and windows did not shut, some free circu- 
lation of air remained. But now our doors and 



84 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

windows shut only too tight. We have plate glass 
instead of lattices ; and we have replaced the 
draughty and smoky, but really wholesome, open 
chimney, with its wide corners and settles, by nar- 
row registers and even by stoves. We have done 
all we can, in fact, to seal ourselves up hermetically 
from the outer air, and to breathe our own breaths 
over and over again ; and we pay the penalty of it 
in a thousand ways unknown to our ancestors, 
through whose rooms all the winds of heaven 
whistled, and who were glad enough to shelter 
themselves from draughts in the sitting-room by 
the high screen round the fire, and in the sleep- 
ing-room by the thick curtains of the four-post 
bedstead, which is now rapidly disappearing be- 
fore a higher civilization. We, therefore, abso- 
lutely require to make for ourselves the .very 
ventilation from which our ancestors tried to 
escape." 

BAD ODORS AND PREVENTION OF DUST. 

If the air in a house is defiled by bad odors, 
the trouble is usually ascribed to the drains ; but 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 85 

it sometimes happens that such smells cannot be 
traced either to defective plumbing or to bad 
arrangement of the warm-air furnace, or to a leak 
in the gas-pipes. Decaying organic matters, par- 
ticularly dead animals, either mice or rats hidden 
under floors, are at times found to be the cause 
of the trouble. Foul air is often found to make 
itself unpleasantly felt in places entirely remote 
from its source. It travels along rat-runs under 
cellar-floors, in the hollow spaces between floors 
and ceilings, behind wainscoting or panelling, 
along the air-spaces in hollow partitions, or in the 
hollow flues of furred brick walls. All such chan- 
nels should be closed at each floor, to prevent not 
only the distribution of bad smells, but also to 
avoid a dangerous spreading of smoke and fire. 
Drip-pipes form another ready channel of com- 
munication between the remotest parts of the 
house. Speaking-tubes are likewise the cause of 
such trouble, and it is even said that the tubes 
enclosing bell-wires at times lead foul air from 
one floor to another. The search for the origin of 
such bad smells is often a puzzle, even to those 
experienced in such investigations. 



86 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

Intimately connected with the subject of dwell- 
ing-house ventilation is the prevention of dirt and 
dust. Heavy flock-papers, hangings, portieres, 
curtains, carpets, collect dust, and absorb unhealthy 
impurities from the air. But they belong rather 
to the furnishing of a house ; and, while it is 
possible and advisable to pay some attention to a 
healthful decoration and furniture of houses, it is 
a subject which does not properly come under 
sanitary house-inspection. The latter will have to 
deal only with whatever stationary or fixed furni- 
ture a house for sale or to rent contains. It is 
not unusual to provide rooms with cupboards or 
wardrobes having sunken tops and mouldings, on 
which a large amount of floating dust collects, 
and generally remains there for months, except so 
far as it is disturbed by draughts, whereby it is 
mixed with the atmosphere of the room, and helps 
to make it stuffy and unwholesome, or settles 
down upon the furniture of the room, and upon 
curtains, bedding, carpets, etc. There is a very 
simple and efficient way of preventing this by 
having all cupboards, wardrobes, or fixed book- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 8/ 

:ases, buffets, etc., carried up clear to the ceiling, 
and also quite down to the floor-line. This does 
not at all exclude a proper and artistical designing 
and construction of such fixed furniture. It is of 
great importance that some attention should be 
paid in every household to this matter. 

INSPECTION OF THE ARRANGEMENTS INSURING SAFETY 
AGAINST FIRE. 

Having finished the inspection of the important 
subjects of plumbing, drainage, heating, lighting, 
and ventilation, there is only one other question 
requiring consideration ; and that is the safety of 
a house from, and the precautions taken in a house 
against, fire. As regards, first, the proper and 
safe construction of a house, it is generally a mat- 
ter of great difficulty to ascertain definitely facts 
bearing upon this point. In a stone or brick house, 
the hollow spaces usually left between the wall 
and the furring act as flues, which will rapidly 
carry the flames from one floor to another. This 
may be prevented by closing the flues at each 
floor with bricks and mortar by so-called " fire- 



8B SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

Stops ; " and in an inspection this point should not 
be overlooked. Interior hollow partition - walls 
may be similarly protected. 

As far as possible, the construction of the chim- 
neys should be inspected. Defective flues, cracks 
in the masonry of smoke-flues (allowing sparks 
to come in contact with the furring of chimneys) , 
floor-joists built into the chimney, badly pargeted 
flues, or woodwork carried too near a flue, are 
often causes of fires in dwelling-houses. See^ 
that the smoke-flue of the cooking- range has at 
least eight inches of brickwork. 

The heating-apparatus being a frequent cause 
of fires, it should be closely inspected, not merely 
as regards its sanitary and mechanical features, 
but also as regards its safe arrangement. Smoke- 
flues for furnaces and steam-boilers should have 
at least a thickness of eight inches. It is best, 
however, to line them inside with round glazed 
earthen pipes. The hot-air flues and the smoke- 
pipe should never come into close contact with 
woodwork. See that there is at least six inches of 
space between any floor-joists, beams, or partition- 



INSPECTION OF CITY HOUSES. 89 

Studs and a hot-air flue, or the top of a hot-air 
furnace or a steam-boiler ; and see to it that all 
woodwork in closer contact with hot-air flues or 
steam-pipes is well protected by a lining of bright 
tin. It is preferable to have the cold-air box con- 
structed of galvanized iron, to obviate all danger 
from fire in case the movement of air-currents 
should be reversed, passing from the register down 
to the furnace, and out at the cold-air inlet. 
Care is required in the proper carrying of stove- 
pipes across and through partitions. Inspect, if 
possible, the method used in carrying vertical hot- 
air flues in wooden partitions. Here, too, all 
woodwork ought to be lined and protected by 
metal, and kept at a distance of at least three 
inches from the flues. Note if wire-lathing has 
been used in such places, for this adds greatly 
to the security of a house against conflagration. 
Observe if hot-air flues, in passing through floors 
or stud partitions, are incased by a large pipe- 
collar, and if the register-boxes are suitably set. 
As to gas-fixtures, note if they are kept at a suffi- 
cient distance from all woodwork and from ceil- 



90 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

ings ; and wherever bracket lights are used, see 
to it that they are at a safe distance from curtains, 
or any other combustible hangings or furniture. ■ 



APARTMENT-HOUSES. 

Within the last ten years a new class of build- 
ings has sprung up in some of our largest cities, in 
New- York City more than elsewhere, chiefly owing 
to the increased value of real estate iu the lower 
part of the city. These buildings are planned 
and built so that a more or less large number of 
families may occupy the different floors of the 
same house. While such so-called " French flats " 
or apartment-houses, cannot well be considered as 
** homes " in the true meaning of the word, yet 
they are often chosen by many in preference to 
houses ; indeed, many people of small means — 
the upper forty thousand, to borrow an expression 
from Mrs. H. M. Plunkett's " Household Sanita- 
tion " — are from sheer necessity, owing to the 
high rates of house-rent, obliged in the largest 
cities to live in them, if they desire to remain at all 



APAR TMENT-HO USES. 9 1 

in the city. It is difficult to say any words of 
praise about them from a health point of view. 
Even the best of such structures, in the writer's 
opinion, are but poor apologies for a home. They 
are often overcrowded, generally ill-ventilated, and 
afford little of the privacy of even the smallest 
rural cottage. The light-and-air shafts, the stair- 
case halls, the dumb-waiters, but especially the 
waste-pipes, unless of a superior character of 
workmanship, would seem to offer increased dan- 
gers to health, and to afford ready channels for 
the spread of zymotic diseases. 

In view of the possibility of an outbreak of fire, 
it is particularly dangerous to live on the upper- 
most floors, which are difficult to reach by the 
streams of a fire-engine. Add to this the well- 
known fact, that, of all the apartment-houses ad- 
vertised and rented as " fire-proof," but very few 
structures are actually built with any regard to- 
wards safety, and so as to confine a conflagration to 
the apartment in which it originates : that, on the 
contrary, the ventilating-shafts, staircase, elevator 
and dumb-waiter shafts, form the readiest means 



92 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

of spreading a fire with rapidity from the basement 
to the roof; while the not infrequent, but much 
to be condemned, construction of a stairway sur- 
rounding the elevator, and enclosed in the same 
shaft with it, entirely cuts off the principal means 
of escape, by smoke, even in case the flames 
should not have reached the shaft. 

There are other reasons, however, why flats, and 
in particular tall structures, having from five to 
twelve stories, are objectionable. They exclude 
to a great extent light and air from the streets 
below and from the adjacent houses. The interior 
of city houses, already dark in many cases, owing 
to the inconvenient subdivision of the city lots, 
is rendered still more gloomy and unhealthy by 
these lofty structures ; while the street is kept con- 
tinually damp, and deprived of the greatest means 
of purification, — sunlight and pure-air currents. 
There is also danger to life, as well as to the 
structures of adjacent property, from the falling of 
high walls in case of a fire. Hence, a due regard 
for the equal rights of property-holders calls for a 
decided condemnation of an unlimited height of 
apartment-houses. 



APARTMENT-HOUSES. 93 

But, even if apartment-houses are properly 
limited to a height equal to about the width of the 
street, the system as a whole ought to be con- 
demned, as being opposed to all domestic inter- 
ests ; as endangering, in many cases, the domestic 
peace and happiness ; as robbing the sense and 
feeling of privacy in a house ; as rendering the 
education of children more difficult ; and as weak- 
ening, more or less, the feeling of domestic com- 
fort and the family ties. Rooms in flats are 
seldom arranged with any regard to privacy of the 
members of a household, nor so that the noise of 
one tenant may not seriously inconvenience and 
disturb the peace of mind of his more quiet 
neighbors. Aside from such moral and social 
dangers, there are dangers to health which ought 
not to be disregarded. It is quite obvious, and 
needs scarcely a further explanation, that, in a 
building containing many people crowded together 
upon a small area, the air is more easily befouled 
than in houses occupied by only a single house- 
hold. In flats, one family must sometimes under- 
go discomforts, or even sufferings, owing to the 



94 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

unsanitary conditions of the rooms of other people 
in the building. Ventilation is most imperfect or 
entirely lacking, and tainted air readily passes from 
one floor to an adjoining or an upper floor. In 
case of a sudden outbreak of typhoid-fever, chol- 
era, scarlet-fever, diphtheria, or measles, isolation 
is quite difficult ; and the disease is much more 
easily spread from one person to another, or from 
one household to another, particularly if careless- 
ness or negligence prevails. 

Our remarks refer particularly to American 
apartments; for, although flats are also common in 
European cities, they are never to be found there 
with dark and unhealthy bedrooms, the back win- 
dows always being located around a large court or 
even garden, with ornamental shrubbery, and pos- 
sibly a decorative fountain. 

In the sanitary inspection of apartment-houses, 
all the hints given with regard to city houses 
should be borne in mind and observed, as well as 
much of what will in the following be said about 
light and ventilation shafts in connection with 
tenement-houses. 



INSPECTION OF TENEMENT-HOUSES. 95 

INSPECTION OF TENEMENT-HOUSES. 

From the apartment-house to the tenement- 
house it is but a gradual step ; and, although what 
is true of the former holds good to even a greater 
extent of the latter, yet tenement-houses consti- 
tute, and will continue to do so, for many work- 
ingmen the only places in cities which they can 
choose to live in, — chiefly owing to the necessity 
of living near their factories or working places. 
While we do not propose to speak at length about 
the necessity of tenement-house inspection, and 
improvement of the construction and condition of 
such structures, a few hints on the subject will not 
be out of place. 

The inquiry should embrace the following main 
points ; viz., general construction, light and air, 
floor and cubic space, general cleanliness, freedom 
from dampness, drainage, condition of cellars, 
garbage removal, water-supply, heating and ven- 
tilation, and personal safety. 

See whether the tenement is single or doubie -, 
note the number of floors, and number of families 



96 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

on each floor, also the number of people consti- 
tuting each family. Ascertain, if possible, when 
the building was erected, and look at the general 
appearance of the house-front ; also note the kind 
of materials used in construction. Measure width 
and depth of the main building, as well as the 
size of the lot ; and note the percentage of the lot 
covered, also the distance from rear buildings. 
Note whether the basement rooms are occupied 
as living or sleeping rooms, whether any animals 
are kept on the premises, and whether any trade 
or business is carried on in the rooms. If this is 
the case, it is proper to inquire carefully into the 
kind of manufacturing process carried on, into 
the raw materials used, and into the inoffensive- 
ness of the products manufactured. Examine with 
care the condition of the cellar, especially as regards 
dampness, drainage, condition of walls, light, air, 
and what use is made of the cellar. Look also 
for water-closets in the cellar. In going up-stairs, 
observe the state of cleanliness of entries, pas- 
sages, stairs, and halls ; and see if they are suffi- 
ciently lighted in daytime, and how they are lightod 



INSPECTION OF TENEMENT-HOUSES. 97 

at night, and what means, if any, are provided 
for ventilating the halls. Examine particularly 
the means for lighting and ventilating all inside 
rooms. Measure the dimensions of each room ; 
note its cubic contents, its clear height, and the 
amount of window surface, especially of bed- 
rooms. Measure the sizes and areas of all light- 
and-air shafts ; and see if indoor water-closets 
have special shafts carried to the roof, which 
ought not to be used to ventilate any living- 
rooms. See if all these air-shafts have proper 
communication with the outer air at the top as 
well as at the bottom. Examine the roof as to 
construction and material, and see if it is kept in 
good repair, and gutters and leaders in proper 
condition, and unobstructed. Note also the ap- 
pearance of the chimney-tops above the roof ; and 
observe if all soil and waste-pipes are carried at 
least four inches diameter well above the roof, 
preferably to such a height that mischievous 
persons cannot cause their obstruction. Notice 
also if the outlets are large and free, or have 
the objectionable return-bend, or a ventilating- 
cap. 



98 SANITARY house-inspection: 

Observe, next, if the tenement has properly con- 
structed fire-escapes ; if the stairs are well con- 
structed, and provided with strong railings; and if 
the roof can be conveniently reached. Examine 
the provisions made for an ample supply of water 
on each floor. Note the condition of faucets, 
pumps, hydrants, and fixtures. Where water does 
not rise to the upper floors in daytime, see if a 
tank and force-pump are duly provided and duly 
operated. Observe the construction, material, and 
condition of the tank, and look to the disposal of 
its overflow-pipe. Examine all the plumbing care- 
fully and thoroughly ; above all, the construction 
and condition of the water-closets, the efficient 
trapping of the sink and washtubs in the kitchen 
or living-room, and the proper ventilation of the 
apartments where plumbing-fixtures are located. 
Consider also the arrangements for heating and 
ventilating the rooms. Examine the rear yard as 
to cleanliness, paving, drainage, freedom from 
odors ; and if there are privy-vaults or school-sinks, 
observe if they are not full and overflowing, but 
kept in good order, neat, and unobjectionable in 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 99 

every respect. Finally, inquire into the proper 
garbage removal by separate closed receptacles, 
one for ashes and another for the kitchen refuse. 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 

We will pass over now to the consideration of 
country houses. These may be subdivided into 
(i) suburban residences and (2) summer resi- 
dences, — the former occupied all the year round 
by people doing business in the city, who wisely 
care more for the health of their growing chil- 
dren than for entertainments which they must 
forego if living " out-of-town," and who prefer a 
rural or suburban home to narrow and unven- 
tilated apartments, or dark and unsanitary city 
houses ; the latter owned or leased by people who 
go to the country in search of pure air, to avoid 
the influence of unsanitary surroundings in the 
city, or who seek refuge at a country-seat on the 
mountains or at the seaside for at least several 
months each year, from the summer's scorching 
heat, from dusty streets, heated pavements, and 

L.ofG.i 



lOO SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

the stifling and smoky atmosphere of a city. The 
sanitary inspection of both classes of houses and 
of their surroundings will not differ materially. 

HEALTHFULNESS OF TOWN AND COUNTRY HOUSES 
COMPARED, 

While there are certain undeniable charms and 
general advantages of rural life as compared with 
life in cities, yet it is equally true that the mere 
fact of living in the country tends, with many 
people, to create a false sense of security ; for in 
rural not less than in urban districts may be found 
certain forms of *' filth," due to neglect and dis- 
regard of sanitary precautions, which may become 
fruitful causes of infection and preventable dis- 
ease. While air rendered impure by all kind of 
noxious exhalations, by smoke, street dung, and 
other volatile, injurious matters, may be looked 
upon as the prominent factor causing sickness in 
cities, we find in the country a greater danger 
from a contamination of the soil and of the drink- 
ing-water. Nevertheless, even in the country the 
atmosphere In the vicinity of houses, and air 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 10 1 

entering these through doors and windows and 
air-inlets to heating-apparatus, may be contami- 
nated, if no regard is paid to the proper disposal 
of waste matters from the household. The re- 
moval of sewage from habitations, the introduc- 
tion of a pure and never-ceasing supply of water 
for domestic purposes, and the removal of ashes 
and garbage, are sanitary measures carried out in 
cities by the public authorities ; and the house- 
holder may restrict his attention, so far as his 
dwelling is concerned, to the purity of the supply 
of air, — in other words, chiefly to the heating- 
apparatus, the arrangements for ventilation, and 
the plumbing-work. In the country, on the other 
hand, his care and exertion should be principally 
devoted to the sources of drinking-water, — the 
well, cistern, spring, pond, or lake, as the case 
may be, — and to the means of removing, and 
disposing of, the waste matters from the house : 
therefore, sink-pipes, drains, cesspools, vaults, 
privies, and manure-heaps are the subjects requir- 
ing particular attention to maintain a locality in 
a perfectly salubrious condition. 



102 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 



CHOICE OF A SITE. 

It is an old saying, that, in choosing a residence, 
one should inquire of some person who formerly 
lived in the neighborhood, and sold out ; and this, 
while also referring to town houses, is particularly 
true of rural habitations. Regarding the location, 
note whether the house stands on elevated ground 
at the top of a hill, exposed to wintry blasts, and 
to bleak and boisterous winds at all seasons of 
the year ; or in a valley or ravine, enclosed on all 
sides, and with the air in a stagnant condition ; or 
built too closely against a rather steep hillside; or, 
finally, on the gentle slope of a hill, with a cheer- 
ful and sunny aspect, and a pleasant prospect 
from the windows of the principal rooms. Always 
observe, or inquire into, the direction from which 
the prevailing winds blow. Carefully look into 
the surroundings of the house. The neighbor- 
hood of swamps, marshes, sluggish water-courses, 
stagnant ponds, or ponds in which the water-level 
is liable to frequent fluctuations, must be avoided ; 
for these are the localities where malarial diseases, 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. IO3 

fever, and ague are apt to be most frequent. 
Sewage farms and cemeteries, rendering estab- 
lishments and soap-works, bone factories and oil 
distilleries, etc., are all unpleasant neighbors, and 
to be equally shunned. An important advantage 
over city houses, common to nearly all country 
houses, is that they are standing isolated, and sur- 
rounded with plenty of free space on all sides ; 
for detached and even semi-detached houses are 
always preferable, from a health point of view, to 
dull, tiresome, and monotonous rows of brick or 
brownstone-front city houses. 

Abundance of shade-trees about a country resi- 
dence is much to be desired ; but they should not 
surround a house too closely, robbing it of sun- 
light and a proper circulation of air. The charac- 
ter of the site exerts a great influence upon the 
healthfulness of a country house ; and preference 
should always be given to houses on dry, sandy, 
or gravelly soils. Alluvial and clay soils ought to 
be avoided, as tending to be damp and chilly. The 
worst possible building-site, in suburban districts, 
is a low spot, recently filled with house garbage 



104 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

and street rubbish. In this matter of choice of 
location, it must constantly be borne in mind, 
that, while defective construction may generally be 
remedied, unhealthy surroundings, an undesirable 
aspect, or insalubrious building-site cannot be 
changed. Careful search should also be made for 
abandoned cesspools, or overflows from cesspools 
into open ditches or ponds, constituting in many 
cases a serious nuisance. As regards the external 
sewerage, the drain-pipe and sewage disposal, 
one may safely assume, that, unless it was recently 
remodelled, it is not as it ought to be to pre- 
vent the contamination of the sub-soil, and the 
accumulation of putrefying organic matter in the 
pipes. 

INSPECTION OF THE HOUSE FOUNDATIONS AND 
CELLAR. 

Having thus ascertained whether the surround- 
ings are free from objection, the next step should 
be the examination of the dwelling. Note its 
general construction and material, and the distance 
of the house from the street. It is well to com- 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. I05 

mence the house-inspection in the cellar, or, if 
there is no cellar, to make sure that the house is 
well raised, at least two feet, above the surface- 
level on brick piers ; that there is abundant air- 
space between the ground and the building 
(otherwise, ground-air is liable to rise into the 
living and sleeping rooms, and, besides this, floor- 
joists and floor-boards will rot soon) ; and that 
there is no rank or decaying vegetation under- 
neath the house. Spaces under piazzas are very 
apt to accumulate rotten leaves, dust, or rubbish, 
and should therefore be made accessible, and fre- 
quently inspected and cleaned. The cold-air box 
of the furnace or steam-heating apparatus should 
not be made to open under a piazza, for here the 
air stagnates, and is easily rendered foul. Light 
and air should be freely admitted into a cellar, 
and nothing kept or stored in it that might taint 
its atmosphere, such as rotten vegetables, swill, 
etc. ; for any impure air in the cellar is sure to 
rise, and to pervade the whole house. See if 
the cellar-floor is of earth, concrete, or bricks, 
and if the cellar-walls and the floor are dry, and 



I06 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

free from rat-runs; look also if provision is 
made, by a special vent-flue carried down to the 
cellar, and running along some heated smoke-flue, 
for change of air. A healthy cellar must always 
be free from damp, and should be light, sunny, 
and airy. It should never be made the storage- 
place of large quantities of vegetables, causing 
unhealthy exhalations. A perfectly built house 
should be completely separated from the sur- 
rounding soil by a water and air tight cellar-floor, 
and by damp-proof foundation-walls, to prevent 
ground-air and soil-moisture from rising. If the 
house is separated from the ground surrounding 
it by areas, see if they are dry and ventilated, and 
have proper outlets for the removal of storm- 
water. The whole site of the dwelling should 
be dry, and, if necessary, it ought to be well 
underdrained ; and all sub-soil water, especially 
where a hillside is sloping toward the house, 
should be cut off, and removed by special drain- 
trenches or tile pipes, which latter should always 
be kept separate or disconnected from any foul 
drain or cesspool. 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. lO/ 



INSPECTION OF WALLS, ROOFS, AND ROOMS. 

The first and foremost purpose of a habitation 
being to afford shelter against the elements, all 
the exposed walls of the house should be imper- 
vious to moisture ; and special pains are some- 
times required in regard to this matter, in the case 
of frame cottages, to prevent soakage of the 
walls, and wetting of the wall-paper, during driv- 
ing rain-storms. The outer walls of an isolated 
house should also be constructed so as to keep 
out the cold in winter, and the heat in summer. 
Roofs should be kept thoroughly tight, so as to 
be water-proof, and to prevent moisture from 
descending in the walls. Dripping roofs, with- 
out gutters or eaves, are a frequent cause of 
dampness of the soil near dwellings, and hence 
of damp and unhealthy foundations. Damp 
houses are insalubrious : the body of persons 
living in them is easily chilled, and people often 
experience draughts or a general feeling of dis- 
comfort. Indeed, many a fatal cold was con- 
tracted owing to a damp and chilly atmosphere 
in a country house. 



I08 SANITARY HOUSE INSPECTION. 

All rooms should be large, comfortable, and 
light, with windows of ample dimensions to let 
in plenty of sunlight ; and each window should, 
preferably, admit the invigorating glow of the sun 
during at least a portion of the day. People 
generally do not appreciate the beneficial effects 
of sunshine until compelled once to live in a cold 
and cheerless room, where the sun never gains 
entrance. Neither plants nor human beings can 
do without it : both grow feeble, pale, and weak. 
Sunlight is, in many respects, a most valuable aid 
to cleanliness, and at all times a good purifier. 
Therefore, do not shut it out. Admit to all living 
and bed rooms not only the pure air of heaven, 
but also the warm and pleasant glow of the sun- 
light. And if, owing to the wrong aspect of a 
house already built, you find that it does not enter 
into some of its rooms, do not choose these for 
the nursery, nor the principal living or bed rooms. 
At all events, in inspecting a house, do not forget 
to refer to the points of the compass to note if 
the house lacks sunshine, — one of the most 
vital factors in domestic sanitation. 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. IO9 

Indeed, sunshine is such a precious gift that 
it would appear wrong and sinful to exclude it 
from any room of the house by any permanent 
arrangements, such as too broad piazza-roofs, 
trees placed too near a house, or heavy, dark, 
inside curtains. Movable blinds or shutters are 
better in this respect, but even they should not 
be kept closed too long. Says Col. Waring: 
" Let the sun have free access to the outside of 
the whole house at some time during the day, 
and keep shutters and blinds and windows open 
except when it is necessary to exclude it. Never 
mind faded carpets : they are not so bad as faded 
cheeks ; and these cannot be avoided except by 
fresh air and ample daylight." 

In bedrooms insanitary conditions ought to be 
most studiously avoided. They and the nurseries 
are the most important rooms of any house : they 
should be located on the sunny side of the house, 
and be large, airy, well-lighted, and amply ven- 
tilated, furnished cheerfully, but so as to be as 
much as possible free from " dust-catching and 
dust-yielding" materials. The furniture should 



no SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION: 

be light ; and curtains, portieres, hangings, caf- 
pets, rugs, upholstery, should be sparingly used, 
and the dust from them frequently removed. 
Window-curtains too often shut out those best 
of all disinfectants, sunshine and pure air. All 
bedding should receive a daily airing. Carpets 
should be avoided. It is better not to paper 
the walls of bedrooms ; but, if they are thus fin- 
ished, avoid both the dust-retaining flock-papers 
and poisonous arsenical papers. Bedrooms should 
have, if possible, an open fire-place to remove air 
rendered impure from breathing, or from burning 
lights. Slop-jars and chambers in bedrooms are 
often the cause of the defilement of the air, 
unless thoroughly cleaned by a daily application 
of soap and hot water. Soiled clothing should 
never be allowed to accumulate for any length of 
time in unventilated closets of bedrooms. 

The servants' chambers should be as cheerful 
and light as the circumstances will permit : but un- 
plastered garret rooms ought never to be used as 
servants' quarters ; for In winter they are too cold, 
in summer too hot, and at all times detrimental 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. Ill 

to health. Look carefully into the condition of 
walls, floors, and ceilings of all rooms ; see espe- 
cially that the ceilings are whitewashed, and the 
floors free from cracks and crevices. Examine 
carefully into the condition of pantries, closets, 
and storerooms: they should be well-lighted and 
well-aired to keep the food free from the least 
suspicion of contamination. Special cleanliness 
should exist wherever milk is stored ; for it is 
well known that this very readily absorbs any 
impurities frorn the surrounding air, and becomes 
unfit for use. Small refrigerators for storing arti- 
cles of food should never be connected directly 
with any pipe carrying foul sewage. 

INSPECTION OF THE HEATING-APPARATUS. 

In inspecting suburban residences occupied 
during all seasons of the year, the heating- 
arrangements must not be forgotten. Warm-air 
furnaces form the apparatus principally used in 
the better class of houses ; and the most impor- 
tant point touching them is, that they should not 
take the air from the cellar. They should have 



112 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION: 

large, well-constructed cold-air boxes, taking a 
supply of pure air from outdoors. The inlet 
should not be located too near the surface of the 
ground, nor open near manure-heaps, privies, 
vaults, swill-barrels, openings into sewers, or near 
cesspools, and must be well protected against the 
entrance of dirt or dust. In much-exposed coun- 
try houses, it is advisable to arrange air-inlets on 
opposite sides of the house, to avoid the annoy- 
ances arising from wind-pressure. As a rule, it 
is preferable for larger and much-exposed country 
houses to have two furnaces, in order not to be 
compelled to keep up in very cold weather a fire 
which would heat the furnace to red heat. The 
remarks made as to the best arrangement and 
management of the heating-apparatus of city 
houses may, with advantage, be here repeated. 
See if due provision is made for heating the halls ; 
for this will insure a uniformity of warmth all 
over the house, and will help much to prevent 
annoying draughts. 

Again, all that has been said concerning the 
precautions against fire applies with equal force 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. II3 

to country houses. It is even of greater impor- 
tance, in the case of these, to guard against the 
dangers from fire ; since the majority of such 
buildings are constructed entirely of wood, — 
hence are very inflammable, — besides being usu- 
ally out of reach of fire-engines. 

INSPECTION OF THE PLUMBING- WORK. 

In these days of greater luxury and refinement, 
even country houses are no longer built without 
so-called " modern conveniences ; " and it will 
be wise not to overlook, in our examination of 
the dwelling, the arrangement of these labor- 
saving and comfort-promoting appliances. It 
will suffice, however, to indicate merely the prin- 
cipal points of such an inquiry, as much of what 
has been said of the plumbing of city houses 
refers equally to that of houses in the country. 
Ascertain first if the drain outside of the house 
is properly laid, with pipes of small size, with 
sufficient grade, tight joints, and true alignment. 
Make sure, next, that the house-pipes are com- 
pletely cut off from the outside drains and cess- 



114 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

pools ; that all pipes are of a sound material, and 
substantially put together with air and water tight 
joints ; that the main drain in the house is re- 
stricted in size, run with proper and sufficient 
fall, or, if this cannot be had, that some flushing 
arrangement is provided ; that the soil-pipe is 
not larger than four inches in diameter, and fully 
ventilated, and carried well above the roof, in a 
perfectly straight line if possible, without any 
bends or offsets, an inlet being provided at the 
foot of the drain to establish a constant circula- 
tion of air through every foot of drain and soil 
pipe in the house, but not located too near a 
window, or near the cold-air inlet of the heating- 
apparatus ; that each fixture has a separate and 
efficient trap or barrier against entrance of foul 
gases ; that there is a proper supply of water to 
each fixture and trap ; that all plurnbing-appli- 
ances are of good, smooth, and non-absorbent 
material, and are arranged as simple as possible, 
without any concealed overflow-pipes or hidden 
channels, but with every thing in plain sight, and 
their construction such that each fixture acts, 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. II5 

when emptied or discharged, as a flush-tank, com- 
pletely scouring the traps and branch waste-pipes, 
which latter should form a connecting link with 
the main soil-pipe as direct and short as possible. 
Never allow any wash-basin or other plumbing- 
fixture to remain in a bedroom or unventilated 
closet adjoining it ; and rather than have in any 
part of the house a fixture which is not used, and 
hence, by evaporation of the water in the trap, 
quickly opens a road to sewer-air, disconnect it, 
and close the waste-pipe carefully. People often 
say, when an inspection of the premises is made, 
" Oh, this fixture cannot be the cause of danger, 
or even annoying odors, for it is hardly ever 
used ! " Popular notion seldom committed a more 
serious error, for with plumbing-fixtures it is dis- 
use which means danger. The more frequently, 
on the contrary, a fixture is used, ccBteris paribus, 
the better will its pipe and trap be flushed. 

See that the fullest light and thorough ventila- 
tion prevail in the bathroom, and closet for the 
house-maid's slop-sink ; and make it a rule to 
have all plumbing exposed to view and accessible^ 



Il6 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

doing away as much as possible with the usually 
ill-smelling woodwork incasing such places, par- 
ticularly about the kitchen-sink and the water- 
closet. 

INSPECTION OF THE WATER-SUPPLY. 

Two subjects of the greatest importance for all 
country homes, and intimately connected with 
each other, require particular consideration, — 
the water-supply, and the disposal of the house- 
hold wastes. A public supply, delivering the 
water to all habitations in pressure-conduits or 
street-mains, is seldom available ; and drinking- 
water must usually be drawn by buckets or pumps 
from a well on the premises, sunk to only a shal- 
low depth, and often liable to be contaminated 
from surface- washings, or by careless dipping 
into it of unclean vessels. Driven wells are not 
so liable to surface contamination ; yet even they 
may be poisoned by leakage of sewage, unless 
sunk to a very great depth, and penetrating 
below some impervious stratum. It sounds like a 
truism to say that wells supplying drinking-water 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. II7 

must be most scrupulously watched, and kept free 
from contamination ; yet how seldom is proper 
care bestowed upon this matter ! The drain 
which carries the liquid wastes from the house to 
a cesspool often passes near the well ; and unless 
the pipes are laid with unusual care and fore- 
thought, by experienced workmen, the imperfect 
and often uncemented joints and broken pipes 
allow the slop-water to leak into the soil, from 
which it passes by filtration into the well. 

But the most frequent and most dangerous 
causes of contamination of wells are the leaching 
cesspool (that vast receptacle of decomposing 
organic matter from the household) and the privy, 
both generally located, on account of convenience 
and economy, very near to the house. The well 
from which the household draws its supply of 
drinking-water is thoughtlessly located, more often 
than not, in close proximity to either of them. It 
is difficult to state the least distance that ought to 
exist between a well and a privy or a leaching cess- 
pool, if the latter is at all to be tolerated. While 
some put it at from one to two hundred feet, the 



1 1 8 SANITAR V HO USE-INSPECTION. 

safer rule would be always to put the cesspool in 
the farthest available corner of the lot. Even if 
such a location is feasible, it must not be forgotten 
that a leaching- cesspool is at best a makeshift and 
an unsanitary device ; and that, when placed far 
away from your own dwelling to insure safety, it 
may contaminate a spring or a water-course from 
which your neighbor down the hill draws his sup- 
ply of potable water. It is much safer to establish 
a rigid rule, that, wherever your house and the 
neighborhood must depend on wells or springs for 
water-supply, leaching cesspools must not be toler- 
ated at all ; and, vice versa, wherever leaching cess- 
pools exist, do not use water from any pump, draw, 
or driven well. 

It is quite easy to ascertain if any hidden con- 
nection exists between a leaching cesspool, house- 
sewer, or privy-vault and a well or cistern. Add 
to the contents of the cesspool or privy-vault a 
large quantity of salt, or introduce a strong salt 
solution into the house-drain. Make a chemical 
test of the well or cistern water for chlorine, before 
and after pouring the salt solution ; and if, in the 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 1 19 

latter instance, the analysis reveals a largely in- 
creased amount, it is a sure sign of a leakage 
existing. To test for chlorine, fill a glass test-tube 
about half full with water, and add to it a few drops 
of a nitrate of silver solution. The presence of 
chlorine is indicated by a white precipitate, con- 
sisting of chloride of silver. 

Another, although more expensive and not 
readily available method, is to apply the "litliia" 
test, by throwing into the cesspool, privy-vault, or 
sewer some lithium salts, and testing the well- 
water afterwards for the lithium, by means of 
the spectroscope, which clearly indicates by the 
peculiar red lithium line even minute amounts of 
this element in the water. 

It is far less objectionable to make use of a 
tight cesspool. Examine it carefully as to dimen- 
sions and material. Measure its distance from 
the house ; see if it is built water-tight, well cov- 
ered, and how ventilated. Let it be small in size, 
and frequently emptied and cleaned, and occa- 
sionally disinfected. If there are any privies, note 
their location and distance from the house, the 



I20 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTFON. 

well, and the cistern. Note if they are offensive 
or inodorous, and well ventilated, and constructed 
in such a manner as to be readily emptied and 
cleaned, and fully protected against entrance of 
rain or moisture. 

Before permitting the water from a well to be 
used in your household, make a thorough inspec- 
tion of the well ; note if it is a dug or driven well, 
a shallow or deep well ; measure its depth and the 
depth of the average water-level below the sur- 
face ; examine the inside lining of the well as to 
imperviousness ; see how the well is covered, and 
how protected against the entrance of surface- 
washings or vermin. 

Next have a sanitary examination of the water 
made by some competent chemist. Good water 
ought to be agreeable to the palate, cool, yet 
not too cold; it should be colorless, clear, and 
bright, free from odor, without sediment or sus- 
pended matter, and not too hard. A water-anal- 
ysis should cover at least the following points : 
First, observe the color of the water, which is 
readily done by filling a tall glass vessel, and look- 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 121 

ing down upon the water. A decided greenish, 
yellow, or brown tint indicates animal or vegetable 
contamination. The sense of smell may be of 
some value in judging the quality of a certain 
water by filling a bottle partly, and closing it with 
a glass stopper, next agitating it violently, and 
then smelling at the mouth of the bottle. A slight 
warming of the bottle may aid in disclosing impu- 
rities. Next note the taste of the water ; but, in 
doing so, it should be remembered that waters 
which do not taste offensively may yet be badly 
polluted with sewage. It is a well-known fact, 
that some of the most sparkling and pleasant 
well-waters revealed, upon examination, a very 
bad pollution. After noting the principal physical 
qualities, a chemical analysis should be made, 
covering the following points : the amount of total 
solids ; the hardness of the water, especially its 
permanent hardness ; the amount of chlorine, of 
free ammonia, of nitrates, and of the organic mat- 
ter contained in the water. As a rule, a qualita- 
tive analysis is sufficient to throw light upon the 
unwholesomeness of a suspicious water ; in more 



122 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

important cases, however, a quantitative analysis 
should also be performed. Occasionally it be- 
comes necessary to test a water for poisonous 
metals, such as zinc, lead, or copper. A micro- 
scopical examination often adds considerable in- 
formation upon the quality of a certain water. 

The chemical analysis is of equal importance in 
the case of deep and shallow or surface wells, as 
in the case of cistern-water, or lake or brook 
water. If the examination of well-water reveals 
any pollution by sewage, it is advisable to use 
only boiled and filtered rain-water for cooking and 
drinking purposes. If drinking-water is derived 
from a running stream or brook, carefully inspect 
the banks to a long distance above the point 
where the water is taken, to make sure that no 
sewage-slops, manufacturing wastes, or surface- 
washings from manured fields forming a part of 
the gathering grounds, run into the stream. 

With the exception of, perhaps, the smallest cot- 
tage buildings, the rain falling upon roofs commonly 
yields water sufficient in quantity for all ordinary 
household purposes ; and, if the most ordinary 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 1 23 

precautions only be observed in collecting and 
storing it, rain-water constitutes a desirable and 
healthful beverage. It is not advisable to collect 
rain from zinc roofs, or roofs that are painted. The 
best roofing material is slate or else tiles ; but shin- 
gle roofs will answer, except that the water from 
them acquires at times a taste from decaying wood- 
splinters washed into the cistern. Care should be 
taken to have the roofs and gutters clean ; and 
the first washings, containing mineral dust, soot, 
spores of plants, or other organic matter, ought 
always to be allowed to run off on the surface by 
a cut-off or separator, worked by hand, or else 
arranged to act automatically. It is also very 
necessary to see if any slop-water can find its 
way, directly or indirectly, into the cistern. The 
cistern for storing rain-water should be built thor- 
oughly water-tight, and be protected against any 
possible pollution, especially against entrance of 
surface-washings, or leaves of trees, insects, small 
animals, and all kinds of animal and vegetable 
impurities. It should be ventilated, and thor- 
oughly cleaned every summer. The overflow-pipe 



124 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

from a cistern must never discharge into any foul 
drain-pipe or cesspool. It is a good plan, which 
adds only a trifle to the cost, to build a partition 
of bricks laid with loose joints, dividing the cis- 
tern into a large and a small compartment, which 
dividing wall acts as a filter. In summer it is a 
good precaution to boil the water first, next to 
cool it with ice, and to aerate it before drinking ; 
but such ice, frequently impure, must not be placed 
in the water. The proper way is to have water- 
coolers with outer and inner chambers, — the outer 
for the melting ice, the inner one for the pure 
water. Drinking-water may be purified by means 
of domestic filters : but, if these are used, they 
must not be left in charge of thoughtless servants, 
since they require to be frequently cleaned ; other- 
wise, their purifying action ceases, and the fil- 
tered water soon acquires a bad taste, due to the 
organic impurities retained in the filtering mate- 
rial. It is desirable to have filters constructed in 
such a manner as to allow of easy cleaning and 
aeration. If a tank is arranged to supply plumb- 
ing-fixtures, it should be placed in the attic in 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 12$ 

some accessible place, protected against entrance 
of dust or vermin, and ventilated by a suitable 
opening into the outer air. The best material for 
such tanks is slate, with properly made cement 
joints, or else well-painted wrought-iron, or finally 
tinned copper lining. Lead linings are not safe ; 
as they are, in some cases, attacked by water, espe- 
cially by soft water. It is better not to draw any 
water for drinking or culinary purposes from such 
a tank; for, no matter how pure the water may 
be when conveyed into a dwelling, it may, by sto- 
rage, be rendered contaminated and unfit for use, 
owing to vapors, gases, dust, smoke, or floating 
organic impurities present about water-tanks. The 
tank should, under no circumstances, be used to 
supply directly the valve attached to water-closet 
bowls ; for it is necessary that each water-closet 
be flushed separately from its own flushing cistern. 

INSPECTION OF THE METHOD OF DISPOSAL OF HOUSE- 
HOLD WASTES. 

Concerning the best way of disposing of house- 
hold wastes, and of avoiding the cesspool nuisance, 



126 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

the aim should be, first, to remove all fouled water 
from the house, and its immediate vicinity, as fast 
as generated ; and, next, to utilize the slops, as 
much as possible, for agricultural purposes, to 
enrich the soil, and thus to give nourishment to 
plants and shrubbery in the garden. The upper 
layers of the earth possess the power of destroy- 
ing within a short time all buried organic matter, 
because the oxygen of the atmosphere has free 
access to the pores of the soil near the surface of 
the ground. A good substitute for the leaching 
cesspool, in the case of smaller country houses, is 
a tight sewage tank, located far away from, and on 
a lower level than, the well, built of brick, laid in 
hydraulic cement, to which the liquid house-wastes 
are delivered, and from which they may be pumped 
by means of an ordinary garden pump with hose 
attached, and distributed in the vegetable garden. 
If the house is provided with water-closets, it is 
necessary to build an intercepting chamber, or 
catch-basin, to separate the solids from the liquid 
sewage. It is of no advantage whatever to sepa- 
rate the kitchen slops from the water-closet wastes 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. I 27 

by using two cesspools. Stagnant kitchen slops 
decompose as rapidly, and give off as bad gases, 
as putrefying human excreta. Surface irrigation 
may sometimes be objectionable where the garden 
is too near the house. The trouble of pump- 
ing out a tight cesspool increases wherever the 
water-supply is ample, and where a larger number 
of plumbing-fixtures is constantly used. If the 
dimensions of the cesspool are enlarged, so as to 
avoid too frequent pumping out, the consequence 
is that the sewage is stored for a considerable 
space of time, and that decomposition sets in, 
which makes its proper and innocuous disposal a 
matter of more difficulty, and, in fact, may cause 
frequent complaints of offensiveness. 

In such cases, a better system, and one capable 
of wide adaptability, is the subsurface irriga- 
tion system, in which the liquid is distributed by 
gravity, at a depth of about ten inches below the 
surface, by means of small porous tile drains, laid 
in parallel lines under a lawn, grass-land, or in the 
garden. The sewage should be discharged into 
the distributing pipes in a large volume, and at 



128 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

intervals only, by manual labor, or, preferably, 
automatically by means of a self-acting flush-tank. 
Special care is necessary wherever to the slop- 
water is added the discharge from water-closets 
in the house. An intermittent discharge is very 
desirable to allow the filtered liquid to soak away 
in the ground, while the organic impurities attach- 
ing to the earth are rapidly oxidized, and assimi- 
lated by vegetation. In a properly arranged 
system, the irrigation field will be entirely free 
from noisome odors, and the purification process 
will continue even in severely cold weather. The 
sub-surface irrigation field should be entirely free 
from trees, as the roots of these would soon grow 
into the tiles, and obstruct them. 

INSPECTION OF THE HOUSE SURROUNDINGS. 

Having taken steps to secure a properly 
arranged system of disposal of the house-sewage, 
and a water-supply ample in quantity, of perfect 
purity, and well guarded against contamination, it 
remains to remove any causes tending to a possi- 
ble pollution of the atmosphere around a country 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. 1 29 

house. Observe if the lawns and walks, the yard 
and the garden, are kept in a neat and inoffensive 
condition. Let every possible precaution be taken 
to prevent any accumulation of rotten vegetable 
matters or kitchen offal of any kind. All animal 
and vegetable refuse from the kitchen — such as 
cabbage-leaves, meat-offal, fish-bones, potato-par- 
ings, etc. — should be dried and burnt up in the 
kitchen range or in a small domestic garbage-crema- 
tor. If a dust-bin is required, let it be a small, 
portable one, circular in section, made of strong 
iron protected against rust, and with a well-fitting 
metal cover. Wooden dust-barrels are utterly un- 
suitable. In all cases, dust-bins or garbage-pails 
should be protected against rain or dampness. 
Remove manure-heaps or accumulations of rotten 
vegetation or animal matters. The exposure of 
these to the scorching heat of a midsummer sun 
accelerates putrefaction, and is often the cause of 
illness, due to breathing such impure air. See to 
it that all ventilation-pipes for drains or the sew- 
age-tank are carried to a safe height above ground. 
Abolish any privy for servants or farmhands, and 



130 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. . 

substitute for it a properly constructed, well-venti- 
lated, and well-managed earth-closet. Never tol- 
erate the throwing out of any slops from the 
kitchen window. If the servant-girl would pour 
the slops on to a different spot at each time, so as 
to avoid a saturation and fouling of the soil, the 
practice might not call for severe condemnation. 
But this will rarely be the case ; and nothing could 
be more disgusting than a large, offensive pool of 
stagnant, foul water, exposed to the scorching rays 
of the sun. 

Barns, stables, cattle-yards, pigsties, hen-coops 
and other fowl-houses, dog-kennels, and their 
immediate surroundings, should all be kept scru- 
pulously clean and inoffensive ; and their floors 
ought always to be dry, and free from moisture. 
See that they are not too near the dwelling, and 
have them looked after from time to time, espe- 
cially if located close to the habitation, and in a 
direction from which the prevailing winds blow. 



INSPECTION OF COUNTRY HOUSES. I31 

INSPECTION OF THE PROPER REMOVAL OF 
STORM-WATER. 

Even pure surface-water from rain-storms or 
snow-falls should be carefully removed to prevent 
undue dampness or rising moisture. Where rain- 
leaders do not deliver into a storage cistern, they 
ought to discharge into earthen pipes, laid with 
great care and with a true grade on a firm foun- 
dation, delivering the water into some convenient 
ditch, open water-course, or road-gutter. Rain- 
water should be removed to at least such a dis- 
tance from the habitation that soakage into the 
sub-soil will not cause dampness of the cellar-walls. 
It is inadmissible to connect the rain-leaders to 
the house-drain if the latter discharges into a cess- 
pool ; and it is quite important to ascertain that no 
rain-water pipe, terminating perhaps near upper 
bedroom windows, acts as a ventilator to any foul 
drain. In all country houses not discharging the 
sewage into a system of sewers or a large river, or 
into the sea, the rainfall must be kept entirely sepa- 
rate from the sewage. That portion of the rain fall- 



132 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

ing directly on the ground surrounding the house 
should be diverted, by proper grading, so as to 
protect the foundation-walls. Surface grading 
is especially required wherever roofs are left 
without gutters. Rain-water and melted snow 
from paved yards and areas should likewise be 
removed by surface or underground channels dis- 
charging at a distance from the dwelling, where 
water may safely be absorbed by vegetation, or 
soak away into the soil. Unpaved yards and walks 
absorb water where the soil is loose and porous ; 
but, in the case of impervious clay soils, properly 
graded gutters should be constructed to keep the 
walks dry and in a good condition. 

SUMMER BOARDING-HOUSES AND SUMMER-RESORTS. 

While the foregoing remarks, incomplete as 
they no doubt are in some respects, refer particu- 
larly to houses already built, for sale or to rent, 
for permanent or transient occupancy, it is hardly 
necessary to state that the same rules ought to 
be followed in the case of dwellings which it is 
proposed to erect. Much of what has been said 



SUMMER BOARDING-HOUSES, ETC. 1 33 

applies likewise to boarding-houses and summer 
hotels at the seaside or on the mountains ; but in 
these the danger of infection from unsanitary con- 
ditions of drainage and water-supply is multiplied, 
owing to the large number of people seeking 
pleasure or rest, and crowded together in a small 
space, and also because such hotels are fitted up 
more liberally with what are called " modern con- 
veniences." It is true that at the summer resorts 
the evil influences of a polluted water-supply or 
contaminated air are largely counteracted by the 
outdoor exercise ; by the greater number of hours 
spent in the fresh air, at the beach, on the water, 
or in the woods ; and by the temporary abandon- 
ment of business thoughts. Yet this ought not 
to be a valid reason for relaxing the watchfulness 
against unhealthful influences ; for neither sea- 
air nor exhilarating mountain breezes possess the 
power to counteract completely the injurious effects 
of drain or cesspool air, breathed in the shut-up 
rooms at night. One frequently encounters in- 
stances where some illness, contracted at such 
places, breaks out only after the return to the 



134 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

city house and to business. All large hotels and 
boarding-houses should be annually re-inspected, 
and all their drainage and water-supply appliances 
put in a proper condition. The purity of the 
sources of drinking-water, in particular, should be 
guarded with the greatest care, and the arrange- 
ments for the disposal of the sewage be made as 
perfect as is attainable. Then, and only then, will 
the healthful and invigorating influences of sum- 
mer days spent in the country be of lasting bene- 
fit to those who leave their comfortable city homes 
in order to improve their health. 

NECESSITY OF PERIODICAL INSPECTION. 

In conclusion, I desire to emphasize the neces- 
sity of 2^ periodical inspection of the sanitary con- 
dition of all kinds of buildings. It is not sufficient 
to spend once a large amount of money to put the 
sanitary arrangements in a good condition. Con- 
stant supervision and thought are required to keep 
every thing in good order. Professor Fleming 
Jenkin of Edinburgh, who gave the first impetus 
towards the establishment of sanitary associations, 



NECESSITY OF PERIODICAL INSPECTION. 1 35 

thus forcibly explains the necessity of periodic 
inspection : — • 

" It is not enough to call in the engineer, and 
have all put in the best order once in a way. 
This is, indeed, very necessary in most cases, — 
how necessary, few know ; but when it has been 
done, the inspection must be maintained. The 
case is quite analogous to that of a steam-boiler. 
We must, in the first instance, provide ourselves 
with a good article, designed by competent engi- 
neers, and experimentally tested ; but we must also 
pay competent men to come year after year, and 
examine whether any deterioration has occurred." 

It is, however, by no means always required that 
an expert should be called in at each time, to make 
the inspection ; for if a householder or the mis- 
tress of a house would take pains to keep them- 
selves well informed about sanitary matters, and 
to understand the chief points to be inquired into, 
they would be able to perform the inspection 
themselves, after a house has been once properly 
arranged and built : and it might even be advan- 
itageous to combine such an inspection with the 



136 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

annually re-occurring house-cleaning, and not to 
wait until some noxious smells indicate that the 
plumbing has become defective, or that other 
serious defects exist. As Col. Waring has truly 
said, — 

" It is not unusual for a householder, unless his 
house fairly stinks, to consider it as 'sweet as a 
rose,' and to rest happy in the conviction that it is 
perfectly healthy. The truth is, that a foul odor 
is not in itself poisonous. When it exists in a 
house, it indicates a source of foulness which may 
also be a source of disease. But, unfortunately, 
the source of disease may, and often does, exist 
without obvious bad smells. The fainter odors 
which more often accompany dangerous emana- 
tions are not perceptible to those who live con- 
stantly subject to them. To one fresh from the 
country, they are almost always obvious in an 
average city house." 

Most people are only too apt to postpone the 
inspection until much too late, when a severe 
case of illness in the family, or a death from one 
of the preventable diseases, opens their eyes to 



NECESSITY OF PERIODICAL INSPECTION. 1 37 

the dangers by which they are surrounded. To 
send for an expert after a fatal case of illness, 
might well be compared with the calling-in of an 
inspecting engineer after a steam-boiler explosion 
has occurred. If, in making a sanitary house- 
inspection, it is considered impracticable to remove 
tight woodwork, rip up floors, cut up walls, dig 
holes, so as to clearly expose every fixture, trap, 
and every foot of waste or vent-pipe, and to gain 
access to the interior of drains, or to make sure 
that no old cesspools exist under a house, the 
results of the examination will enable the inspect- 
or to make a general or preliminary report only. 
It is, however, always better to make a thorough 
examination ; and in that case a complete report 
of the sanitary inspection of a dwelling should 
contain : ( i ) a general statement describing the 
sanitary condition of a building at the time of 
the inspection ; (2) a detailed statement of the 
sanitary defects discovered, with reasons why the 
arrangements are faulty ; (3) a detailed recom- 
mendation of improvements to be made to put a 
house in a proper and healthful condition. 



138 SANITARY HOUSE-INSPECTION. 

To sum Up, no house should be purchased or 
leased, in the city or in the country, the sanitary 
condition of which has not been carefully exam- 
ined into, and its fitness for occupancy certified, 
by some well-educated, disinterested professional 
man. 

There is not the slightest doubt, that, if the pub- 
lic will thus insist upon healthful surroundings and 
salubrious buildings, a greater attention will soon 
be paid by landlords and builders to the important 
questions of drainage and plumbing, heating and 
ventilation, lighting and safety from fire, water- 
supply and disposal of sewage. A healthful home 
having been once secured, it becomes the sacred 
duty of the householder to inquire at frequent 
intervals into its continued good sanitary condi- 
tion. To aid the householder in the search for 
such structural defects as may endanger the health 
of his household is, the object of this — Guide to 
Sanitary House- Inspection. 



INDEX. 



Page 
Admission of air ... 75, 'n 
Air-inlet for house-drains . . 35 
Air-test, simple method of de- 
termining amount of car- 
bonic acid 79 

Apartment-houses .... 90 
Apparatus for disinfecting wa- 
ter-closets 44 

Area-drains 36 

Arrangement of gas-piping . 67 
Arrangements for warming the 

house 56 

Arsenic in wall-papers . . 29, no 

Ash-barrels 56 

Bad odors ....... 84 

Bathroom 44, 115 

Bedrooms 28, 109 

Bell-traps 43 

Boiler inspector 64 

Boiler, Kitchen 54 

Boiler, Steam-heating ... 64 
Brick drains under houses . . 32 
Building-materials .... 27 



Pagb 

Building-site 23, 102 

Burners, Choice of ... . 73 
By-passes in vented traps . . 50 
Carbonic-acid test .... 79 
Carpets, objectionable as col- 
lecting dust, and absorbing 

impurities 86, no 

Ceiling ventilation .... 77 
Cellar, Inspection of the . 25, 105 
Cement pipe for house-drain, 32, 33 

Cesspools 27 

Cesspools, Leaching . . . . 117 

Cesspools, Tight 119 

Cesspool trap 32 

Chemical examination of wa- 
ter 119 

Chimneys 3i> 88 

Choice of a site 102 

Choice of gasburners ... 73 
Choosing a dwelling .... 9 

Cisterns 123 

City houses. Inspection of . . 22 

Closets Ill 

139 



140 



INDEX. 



Page 

Cold-air box, 35, 58, 59, 89, 105, 112 

Cold-air ducts 77 

Combustion of gas .... 71 

Conductor-pipes 36 

Construction of floors ... 30 

Contamination of the soil . . 100 

Country houses, Inspection of, 99 

Cowls 38 

Dampness of walls . . .28, 107 

Damp-proof- courses .... 25 

Decaying organic matters, the 

cause of bad smells . . 85 

Defective flues ...... 88 

Defective water-closets ... 44 
Defects in drainage and plumb- 
ing 49 

Defects in gas-piping .... 68 

Direct-indirect radiation . . 63 

Direct radiation 62 

Disinfecting apparatus ... 44 

Disposal of household wastes, 125 

Domestic filtration .... 124 

Drainage of soil ic6 

Drainage plan 55 

Drain-pipes of iron .... 34 
Drinking-water, Contamina- 
tion of ICO, 116 

Drip-pipes 49) 85 

Driven wells 116 

Dust-bin 129 

Earth-closets 130 

Eassie, William, C. E., quoted, 13 

Essentials of a healthful home, 19 



Page 
Essentials of perfect salubrity 
in a house, quoted from 

Dr. B. W. Richardson . 21 

Evaporation of water in traps, 115 
Examination, Detailed, of a 

system of ventilation . . 78 

Examination of wells . . . 119 
Ferrules, of brass, for joints 
between lead and iron 

pipe 42 

Filters 124 

Fire-escapes 98 

Fireplace, Open 57 

Fireplace, Ventilating ... 57 

Fireplaces for ventilation . . 76 

Fire prevention 87 

Fire-proof flats 91 

Fire-risks in flats 91 

Fixtures, Inspection of plumb- 
ing 41 

Floor-construction . . . 30, in 

Flues, Defective 88 

Flues, Hot-air 61 

Flush-tank for sewage disposal, 1 28 

Foul air ....... . 85 

Foundation-walls 25 

French flats . 90 

Fresh-air supply to heating- 
apparatus 63, 105 

Fresh-air inlet 35, 114 

Furnace, Warm-air . . .57,111 
Furniture, Healthy arrange- 
ments of house . . . 86, 110 



INDEX. 



141 



Page 
Garbage disposal . 55, 99, 129 
Gasburners, Various kinds of, 72, 74 

Gas-fixtures 89 

Gas-lighting 66 

Gas-meter 67 

Gas-pipes and fixtures, How to 

test 69 

Gas-pipes, how put together . 66 
Gas-piping, Defects in . . . 68 

Gas, Waste of 72 

Germs of disease 52 

Glass globes. Size and shape 

of 74 

Governor-burners 74 

Grease-trap , 27, 43 

Gullies in cellar-floor ... 26 
Hammer-test for steam-heat- 
ing boilers 64 

Healthful home, Essentials 

of a 19 

Healthfulness of town and 

country houses compared, 100 
Heating-apparatus . . 56, 88, 1 1 1 
Height of apartment-houses to 

be limited by law ... 92 
Honeycombed soil-pipes . . 37 

Hopper-closets 42 

Hot-air flues . . . .61, 63, 88 
House-drain, of brick ... 32 

of cement or terra-cotta 
pipe 32 

of iron pipe 34 

House furniture 86 



Pagb 
Household wastes, Methods of 

disposal of 125 

House-surroundings . 23, 102, 128 

House-ventilation .... 74 
How to prevent corrosion in 

steam-boilers 65 

How to save gas 73 

Ice, for cooling cistern-water, 124 

Illuminating-gas 66 

Inlets for warm air ... . 61 
Indirect radiation .... 62 
Inspection of apartment- 
houses 94 

of arrangements for warm- 
ing the house . . . 56, i i i 
of arrangements insuring 

safety against fire . . 87 

of bathroom . . . . 44, 1 1 5 

of cellar 25, 104 

of city houses 22 

of country houses ... 99 
of garbage disposal . . 55 
of gas-lighting arrange- 
ments 66 

of gas-meter 69 

of house-drains .... 34 

of house-foundations . . 104 

of house-ventilation . . 74 
of methods of disposal of 

household wastes . . 125 
of plumbing-fixtures . 41, 114 
of plumbing and sewer- 
age 31, 113 



142 



INDEX. 



Page 
63 
36 
64 

22 

131 

27 



Inspection of radiators . . 
of soil-pipe .... 
of steam-heating boiler 

of streets 

of storm-water removal 

of structural details 

of surroundings and of the 

soil .... 23, 102, 128 
of tenement-houses ... 95 

of traps 35 

of walls, roofs, rooms . . 107 
of washbasins . . . 48, 115 
of water-closets .... 47 
of water-supply . . . 53, 116 

of yard 26 

Iron drains 34 

Irrigation, Sub-surface . . . 127 
Jenkin, ■ Professor Fleming, 

quoted 134 

Joints, Defective, in soil- 

pipes y], 38 

in iron pipe .... 37, 38 

in lead pipe 42 

Leaky, in house-drains, 32, 34 
Junction between soil-pipe and 

house-drain 33 

KiNGSLEY, Charles, quoted on 

ventilation 75) 81 

Kitchen boiler 54 

Kitchen offal 55 

Kitchen sink 43 

Kitchen ventilation .... 78 
Laundry tubs 43 



Page 

Leaching cesspools . . . . 117 

Lead-pipe joints 42 

Lead soil-pipes ..... 37 
Leakages in gas-pipes and gas- 
fixtures 68 

Leaky sewer-pipes causes of 

well-water contamination, 117 

Light and air in bathrooms . 115 
Light-and-air shafts . . . 91, 97 
Low-pressure steam-heating 

apparatus 62 

Main house-drain .... 32 

Malaria 102 

Management of heating-appa- 
ratus 58, 112 

Mason or cesspool trap ... 32 
Materials for building ... 27 
Material for tank-lining . . . 125 
Metallic tips for gasburners . 74 
Method for determining 
amount of carbonic acid 
present in the air ... 79 
Methods of disposal of house- 
hold wastes 125 

Moisture in air 77 

Movement of air-currents . . 77 
Necessity of periodical house- 
inspection 134 

Non-conducting covering for 

steam-pipes 63 

Nurseries 109 

Odors, Bad, in a house . . 84 

Open fireplace ...... 57 



INDEX. 



143 



Page 
Openings of fresh-air inlets 

obstructed 38 

Outlets for impure air . . . 62 
Overflow channels, hidden, 44,114 
Overflow pipes for cisterns . 124 

Pan-closet 42, 46 

Pantries 11 1 

Pantry-sink 43 

Patent disinfecting apparatus . 44 
Peppermint test described . . 39 
Periodical house-inspection . 134 
Plan of house, showing water- 
pipes, drains, etc. ... 55 
Plug and chain arrangement . 44 

Plumbing defects 49 

Plumbing-fixtures . .41,98,114 
Plumbing-work to be kept ex- 
posed to view . . . . 115 
Plumbing, Inspection of . 31, 113 
Pressure governors .... 73 
Pressure of gas. Excessive . 72 

Pressure-test 38 

Prevention of corrosion in 

steam-heating boilers . . 65 
Prevention of dust ... 84, 86 

Prevention of fire 87 

Privies 27,117,129 

Radiation, Direct and indi- 
rect 62 

Radiators 63 

Rain-leaders 36, 131 

Rain-water 123, 131 

Removal of . . . . 36, 131 



Page 

Refrigerators in 

Registers 61 

Regulators of gas-pressure . 73 
Removal of storm-water . . 131 
Return-bends objectionable . 38 
Richardson, Dr. B. W., quoted, 21 
Roof, Tightness of . . 31, 97, 107 
Roof, Material for .... 123 

Rooms 28, 108 

Running-traps 33 

Safe pipes 47 

Sanitary certificate . . . n, 13 
Sanitary house-inspection. Ne- 
cessity of 8 

Servants' rooms . . . . 31, no 
Servants' water-closet ... 42 

Sewage-tanks 126 

Sewerage and sewage disposal 

of country houses . . . 104 
Sewerage, Inspection of . . 31 

Sewer-gas 51 

Siphonage of traps ... 36, 38 
Sizes of waste pipes and traps, 42 

" Skin " buildings 14 

Slop-sink . 47 

Smoke-flue 88 

Smoke-test, for soil-pipes . 38, 40 

Soil-pipes 36, 114 

Soil-pipes, Upper terminus of, 38 
Speaking-tubes as channels of 

foul air 85 

Speculative builder. Houses of 

the 15 



144 



INDEX. 



Page 

Staircase 30, 9i> 98 

Steam-coils 62 

Steam-heating apparatus . . 62 

Steam-heating boiler ... 64 

Stovepipes 89 

Stoves, Heating by ... . 56 

Storerooms in 

Storm-water removal . . . 131 

Street, Inspection of the . . 22 
Structural details, Inspection 

of 27 

Sub-surface irrigation . . . 127 
Suburban and summer resi- 
dences 99 

Summer boarding-houses and 

summer resorts .... 132 

Sunlight ........ 108 

Surroundings and soil, 23, 102, 128 

Tank, Water . . . . 54, 98, 125 

T-branches objectionable . , 35 

Tenement-houses 95 

Test for connection between 

well and cesspool . . . 117 
Test for gas-pipes .... 69, 70 

Test for sewer-gas .... 52 

Test for steam-boiler .... 64 

Testing water 119 

Test of pipe-system by acetate 
of lithium and the spec- 
troscope 41 

Test of pipe-system by musk, 41 
of pipe-system by pepper- 
mint . 39 



Page 

Test of pipe-system by smoke, 38, 40 
of pipe-system by water- 
pressure 39 

Trap, Cesspool or mason's . 33 

on main drain . . . 35, 113 

Trapping of fixtures . . . . 114 

of leaders 36 

of yard and area drains . 36 

Traps, running 33 

forced by back pressure . 38 

Urinals 46 

Ventilating fireplace ... 57 

caps 38 

Ventilation of bathroom . . 115 

of cellar ...... 106 

of house 74 

of kitchen 78 

of soil-pipe 36 

of water-closet apartment, 78 

Wall-papers, Arsenical . 29, 

Walls, Inside finish of 
Inspection of 

Wardrobes . . . 

Waring, Col. George 
quoted . . . 

Warm-air furnace 

Warming the house 

Washbasin . . . 

Washbasins in sleeping- 
objectionable . . . . 47, 115 

Waste of gas 72 

Waste-pipes 38 

Water analysis 115 



no 

28 

107 

86 



]un., 
n, 109, 136 
57, 
56, 

43: 

rooms 
47, 



III 

in 

47 



INDEX. 



145 





Page 


Water-closet for servants . . 


42 


ventilation 


78 


Water-courses, old .... 


24 


Water-pipes, arrangement of . 


S7> 


Water-pressure test .... 


39 


Water-supply of city houses . 


^2, 


of country houses . . . 


116 


to plumbing-fixtures . 98, 


114 


Water-tank ...... 54, 


125 



Page 

Wells 27, 116, 119 

Windows 28, 108 

Wiped joints 42 

Wire lathing 89 

Wolpert's test-apparatus for 

carbonic acid in air . . 79 
Yard, Inspection of the . 26, 129 

drains 36, 132 



SHORT-TITLE CATALOGUE 

OF THE 

PUBLICATIONS 

OF 

JOHN WILEY & SONS, 

New York. 
London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited. 



ARRANGED UNDER SUBJECTS. 



Descriptive circulars sent on application. Books marked with an asterisk are 
sold at net prices only, a double asterisk (**) books sold under the rules of the 
American Publishers' Association at net prices subject to an extra charge for 
postage. All books are bound in cloth unless otherwise stated. 



AGRICULTURE. 

Armsby 's Manual of Cattle-feeding i2mo, Si 75 

Principles of Animal Nutrition 8vo, 4 00 

Budd and Hansen's American Horticultural Manual: 

Part I. — Propagation, Culture, and Improvement i2mo, i 50 

Part II. — Systematic Pomology i2mo, i 50 

Downing's Fruits and Fruit-trees of America 8vo, s oo- 

Elliott's Engineering for Land Drainage i2mo, i SOi 

Practical Farm Drainage i2m^o, i 00 

Green's Principles of American Forestry. (Shortly.) 

Grotenfelt's Principles of Modern Dairy Practice. (WoU.) i2mo, 2 00 

Kemp's Landscape Gardening i2mo, 2 50 

Maynard's Landscape Gardening as Applied to Home Decoration i2mo, i 50 

Sanderson's Insects Injurious to Staple Crops i2mo, i 50 

Insects Injurious to Garden Crops. {In preparation.) 
Insects Injuring Fruits. (In preparation.) 

Stockbridge's Rocks and Soils 8vo, 2 501 

Well's Handbook for Farmers and Dairymen i6mo, i 501 

ARCHITECTURE. 

Baldwin's Steam Heating for Buildings i2mo, 2 so< 

Berg's Buildings and Structures of American Railroads 4to, 

Birkmire's Planning and Construction of American Theatres 8vo, 

Architectural Iron and Steel Svo, 

Compound Riveted Girders as Applied in Buildings Svo, 

Planning and Construction of High Office Buildings Svo, 

Skeleton Construction in Buildings .8vo, 

Briggs's Modern American School Buildings 8vo, 

Carpenter's Heating and Ventilating of Buildings 8vo, 

Freitag's Architectural Engineering. 2d Edition, Rewritten Svo, 

Fireproofing of Steel Buildings . . . Svo, 

French and Ives's Stereotomy ... . . Svo, 

Gerhard's Guide to Sanitary House-inspection ifimo. 

Theatre Fires and Panics i2mo, 

1 



5 


00 


3 


00 


3 


50 


2 


00 


3 


so 


3 


00 


4 


00- 


4 


00 


3 


50 


2 


50 • 


2 


50 



Hatfield's American House Carpenter ' .8vo, 5 00 

Holly's Carpenters* and Joiners' Handbook i8mo, 75 

Johnson's Statics by Algebraic and Graphic Methods 8vo, 2 00 

Kidder's Architect's and Builder's Pocket-book i6mo, morocco, 4 00 

Merrill's Stones for Building and Decoration 8vo, 5 00 

Monckton's Stair-building 4to, 4 00 

Patton's Practical Treatise on Foundations 8vo, 5 00 

-Siebert and Biggin's Modern Stone-cutting and Masonry 8vo, i 50 

Snow's Principal Species of Wood 8vo, 3 50 

Sondericker's Graphic Statics with Applications to Trusses, Beams, and Arches. 
(Shortly.) 

"Wait's Engineering'and Architectural Jurisprudence 8vo, 6 00 

Sheep, 6 50 
Law of Operations Preliminary to Construction in Engineering and Archi- 
tecture 8vo, 5 00 

Sheep, 5 50 

Law of Contracts 8vo, 300 

"Woodbury'sTire Protection of Mills 8vo, 2 50 

Worcester and Atkinson's Small Hospitals, Establishment and Maintenance, 
Suggestions for Hospital Architecture, with Plans for a Small Hospital. 

lamo, I 25 

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 Large 4to, i 00 

ARMY AND NAVY. 

Bernadou's Smokeless Powder, Nitro-cellulose, and the Theory of the Cellulose 
Molecule i2mo, 

* Brufi's Text-book Ordnance and Gunnery. . , 8vo, 

Chase's Screw Propellers and Marine Propulsion 8vo, 

Craig's Azimuth 4to, 

Crehore and Squire's Polarizing Photo-chronograph 8vo, 

Cronkhite's Gunnery for Non-commissioned Officers 24mO; morocco, 

* Davis's Elements of Law 8vo, 

* Treatise on the Mihtary Law of United States Svo, 

* Sheep 

De Brack's Cavalry Outpost Duties. (Carr.) 24mo, morocco, 

Dietz's Soldier's First Aid Handbook i6mo, morocco, 

* Dredge's Modern French Artillery 4to, half morocco, : 

Durand's Resistance and Propulsion of Ships Svo, 

* Dyer's Handbook of Light Artillery i2mo, 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives Svo, 

* Fiebeger's Text-book on Field Fortification Small Svo, 

Hamilton's The Gunner's Catechism i8mo, 

* Hoff's Elementary Naval Tactics Svo, 

Ingalls's Handbook of Problems in Direct Fire Svo, 

* BalUstic Tables Svo, 

* Lyons's Treatise on Electromagnetic Phenomena. Vols. I. and II . . Svo, each, 

* Mahan's Permanent Fortifications. (Mercur.) Svo, half morocco. 

Manual for Courts-martial i6mo morocco, 

* Mercur's Attack of Fortified Places i2mo, 2 00 

* Elements of the Art of War Svo, 4 00 

Metcah'sXost of Manufactures — And the Administration of Workshops, Public 

and Private Svo, 5 00 

* Ordnance and Gunnery i2mo, 5 00 

Murray's Infantry Drill Regulations iSmo, paper, 10 

* Phelps's Practical Marine Surveying Svo, 2 50 

Powell's Army Officer's Examiner i2mo, 4 00 

Sharpe's Art of Subsisting Armies in War iSmo, morocco, i 50 

2 



2 


50 


6 


00 


3 


CO 


3 


50 


3 


00 


2 


00 


2 


50 


7 


00 


V 


50 


2 


00 


I 


25 


5 


00 


5 


00 


3 


00 


4 


00 


2 


00 


I 


00 


I 


50 


4 


00 


I 


50 


6 


00 


7 


50 


I 


50 



* Walke's Lectures on Explosives 8vo, 4 00 

* Wheeler's Siege Operations and Military Mining 8vo, 2 00 

Winthrop's Abridgment of Military Law i2mo, 2 50 

Woodhull's Notes on Military Hygiene i6mo, i 50 

Young's Simple Elements of Navigation i6mo, morocco, i 00 

Second Edition, Enlarged and Revised i6mo, morocco, 2 00 



ASSAYING. 

Fletcher's Practical Instructions in Quantitative Assaying with the Blowpipe. 

i2mo, morocco, i 50 

Furman's Manual of Practical Assaying 8vo, 3 00 

Miller's Manual of Assaying i2mo, i 00 

O'DriscoU's Notes on the Treatment of Gold Ores Svo, 2 00 

Ricketts and Miller's Notes on Assaying Svo, 3 00 

Ulke's Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining Svo, 3 00 

Wilson's Cyanide Processes i2mo, i 50 

Chlorination Process ; i2mo, i 50 



ASTRONOMY. 

Comstock's Field Astronomy for Engineers Svo, 2 50 

Craig's Azimuth 4to, 3 50 

DooUttle's Treatise on Practical Astronomy Svo, 4 00 

Gore's Elements of Geodesy Svo, 2 50 

Hayford's Text-book of Geodetic Astronomy Svo, 3 00 

Merriman's Elements of Precise Surveying and Geodesy Svo, 2 50 

* Michie and Harlow's Practical Astronomy Svo, 3 00 

* White's Elements of Theoretical and Descriptive Astronomy i2mo, 2 00 



BOTANY. 

Davenport's Statistical Methods, with Special Reference to Biological Variation. 

i6mo, morocco, i 25 

Thom^ and Bennett's Structural and Physiological Botany i6mo, 2 25 

Westermaier's Compendium of General Botany. (Schneider.) Svo, 2 00 



CHEMISTRY. 

Aduiance's Laboratory Calculations and Specific Gravity Tables i2mo, i 25 

Allen's Tables for Iron Analysis Svo, 3 00 

Arnold's Compendium of Chemistry. (Mandel.) (In preparation.) 

Austen's Notes for Chemical Students i2mo, i 50 

Bernadou's Smokeless Powder. — Nitro-cellulose, and Theory of the Cellulose 

Molecule i2mo, 2 50 

Bolton's Quantitative Analysis Svo, i 50 

* Browning's Introduction to the Rarer Elements Svo, i 50 

Brush and Penfield's Manual of Determinative Mineralogy Svo, 4 00 

Classen's Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Electrolysis. (Boltwood.) . . . .Svo, 3 00 

Cohn's Indicators and Test-papers i2mo, 2 00 

Tests and Reagents Svo, 3 00 

Copeland's Manual of Bacteriology. (In preparation.) 

Craft's Short Course in Qualitative Chemical Analysis. (Schaeffer.). . . . i2mo, 2 00 

Drechsel's Chemical Reactions. (Merrill.) i2mo, i 25 

Duhem's Thermodynamics and Chemistry. (Burgess.) (Shortly.) 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives Svo, 4 00 

3 



Effront's Enzymes and their Applications. (Prescott.) 8vo, 3 00 

Erdmana's Introduction to Chemical Preparations. (Dunlap.) lamo, i 25 

Fletcher's Practical Instructions in Quantitative Assaying with the Blowpipe. 

i2mo, morocco, i 50 

Fowler's Sewage Works Analyses i2mo, 2 00 

Fresenius's Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. (Wells.) 8vo, 5 00 

Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis. Parti. Descriptive. (Wells.) 

8vo, 3 00 

System of Instruction in Quantitative Chemical Analysis. (Cohn.) 
2 vols. (Shortly.) 

Fuertes's Water and PubUc Health i2mo, i 50 

Furman's Manual of Practical Assaying Svo, 3 00 

Gill's Gas and Fuel Analysis for Engineers i2mo, i 23 

Grotenfelt's Principles of Modern Dairy Practice. (WoU.) i2mo, 2 00 

Hammarsten's Text-book of Physiological Chemistry. (Mandel.) Svo, 4 00 

Helm's Principles of Mathematical Chemistry. (Morgan.) i2mo. i 50 

Hinds's Inorganic Chemistry Svo, 3 00 

• Laboratory Manual for Students i2mo, 75 

Holleman's Text-book of Inorganic Chemistry. (Cooper.) Svo, 2 50 

Text-book of Organic Chemistry. (Walker and Mott.) Svo, 2 50 

Hopkins's Oil-chemists' Handbook Svo, 3 00 

Jackson's Directions for Laboratory Work in Physiological Chemistry. .Svo, i 00 

Keep's Cast Iron Svo, 2 50 

Ladd's Manual of Quantitative Chemical Analysis i2mo, i 00 

Landauer's Spectrum Analysis. (Tingle.) Svo, 3 00 

Lassar-Cohn's Practical Urinary Analysis. (Lorenz.) i2mo, i 00 

Leach's The Inspection and Analysis of Food with Special Reference to State 

Control. (In preparation.) 
Lob's Electrolysis and Electrosynthesis of Organic Compounds. (Lorenz.) i2mo, i 00 

Mandel's Handbook for Bio-chemical Laboratory i2mo, i 50 

Mason's Water-supply. (Considered Principally from a Sanitary Standpoint.) 

3d Edition, Rewritten Svo, 4 00 

Examination of Water. (Chemical and Bacteriological.) i2mo, i 2S 

Meyer's Determination of Radicles in Carbon Compounds. (Tingle.). .i2mo, i 00 

Miller's Manual of Assaying i2mo, i 00 

Mixter's Elementary Text-book of Chemistry i2mo, i 50 

Morgan's Outline of Theory of Solution and its Results i2mo, i 00 

Elements of Physical Chemistry i2mo, 2 00 

Nichols's Water-supply. (Considered mainly from a Chemical and Sanitary 

Standpoint, 18S3.) Svo, 2 50 

G'Brine's Laboratory Guide in Chemical Analysis Svo, 2 00 

O'DriscoU's Notes on the Treatment of Gold Ores Svo, 2 00 

Ost and Kolbeck's Text-book of Chemical Technology. (Lorenz — Bozart.) 
(In preparation.) 

* Penfield's Notes on Determinative Mineralogy and Record of Mineral Tests. 

Svo, paper, 50 
Pictet's The Alkaloids and their Chemical Constitution. (Biddle.) (In 
preparation.) 

Pinner's Introduction to Organic Chemistry, (Austen.) i2mo, i 50 

Poole's Calorific Power of Fuels Svo, 3 00 

* Reisig's Guide to Piece-dyeing Svo, 25 00 

Richards and Woodman's Air , Water , and Food from a Sanitary^Standpoint . Svo, 2 00 
Richards's Cost of Living as Modified by Sanitary Science i2mo, i 00 

Cost of Food, a Study in Dietaries i2mo, i 00 

* Richards and Williams's The Dietary Computer Svo, i 50 

Ricketts and Russell's Skeleton Notes upon Inorganic Chemistry. (Part I. — 

Non-metaUic Elements.) Svo, morocco, 75 

Ricketts and Miller's Notes on Assaying Svo, 3 00 

4 



2 


00 


2 


SO 


I 


50 


3 


00 


3 


oo 


5 


00 


I 


so 


4 


oo 


I 


so 


I 


so 


3 


so 


2 


50 


I 


50 


I 


50 



Rideal's Sewage and the Bacterial Purification of Sewage 8vo, 3 so 

Ruddiman's Incompatibilities in Prescriptions 8vo, 2 00 

Schimpf s Text-book of Volumetric Analysis i2mo, 2 50 

Spencer's Handbook for Chemists of Beet-sugar Houses i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

Handbook for Sugar Manufacturers and their Chemists. . i6mo, morocco, 
Stockbridge's Rocks and Soils 8vo, 

* Tillman's Elementary Lessons in Heat Svo, 

* Descriptive General Chemistry Svo 

Treadwell's Qualitative Analysis. (Hall.) Svo, 

Turneaure and Russell's Public Water-supplies Svo, 

Van Deventer's Physical Chemistry for Beginners. (Boltwood.) i2mo, 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosives Svo, 

Wells's Laboratory Guide in Qualitative Chemical Analysis Svo, 

Short Course in Inorganic Qualitative Chemical Analysis for Engineering 

Students i2mo, 

Whipple's Microscopy of Drinking-water Svo, 

Wiechmann's Sugar Analysis Small Svo, 

Wilson's Cyanide Processes i2mo, 

Chlorination Process i2mo 

Wulling's Elementary Course in Inorganic Pharmaceutical and Medical Chem- 
istry i2mo, 2 00 

CIVIL ENGINEERING. 

BRIDGES AND ROOFS. HYDRAULICS. MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING. 
RAILWAY ENGINEERING. 

Baker's Engineers' Surveying Instruments i2mo, 3 00 

Bixby's Graphical Computing Table Paper, 19^X24! inches. 25 

** Burr's Ancient and Modern Engineering and the Isthmjan Canal. (Postage, 

27 cents additional.) Svo, net, 3 50 

Comstock's Field Astronomy for Engineers Svo, 2 50 

Davis's Elevation and Stadia Tables » Svo, i 00 

Elliott's Engineering for Land Drainage i2mo, i 50 

Practical Farm Drainage i2mo, i 00 

Folwell's Sewerage. (Designing and Maintenance.) Svo, 3 00 

Freitag's Architectural Engineering. 2d Edition, Rewritten Svo, 3 so 

French and Ives's Stereotomy Svo, 2 50 

Goodhue's Municipal Improvements i2mo, i 75 

Goodrich's Economic Disposal of Towns' Refuse Svo, 3 50 

Gore's Elements of Geodesy Svo, 2 50 

Hayford's Text-book of Geodetic Astronomy Svo, 3 00 

Howe's Retaining Walls for Earth i2mo, i 25 

Johnson's Theory and Practice of Surveying Small Svo, 4 00 

Statics by Algebraic and Graphic Methods Svo, 2 00 

Kiersted's Sewage Disposal lamo, 1 25 

Laplace's Philosophical Essay on Probabilities. (Truscott and Emory.) lamo, 2 00 

Mahan's Treatise on Civil Engineering. (1S73.) (Wood.) Svo s 00 

* Descriptive Geometry Svo, i 50 

Merriman's Elements of Precise Surveidne: and Geodesy Svo, 2 50 

Elements of Sanitary Engineering Svo, 2 00 

Merriman and Brooks's Handbook for Surveyors i6mo, morocco, 2 00 

Nugent's Plane Surveying Svo, 3 50 

Ogden's Sewer Design • i2mo, 2 00 

Patton's Treatise on Civil Engineering Svo, half leather, 7 50 

Reed's Topographical Drawing and Sketching 4to, 5 00 

Rideal's^Sewage and the Bacterial Purification of Sewage Svo, 3 50 

Siebert and Biggin's Modern Stone-cutting and Masonry Svo, 1 so 

Smith's Manual of Topographical Drawing. (McMillan.) Svo, 2 50 

5 



5 


00 


6 


oo 


6 


so 


5 


00 


5 


50 


3 


00 


2 


so 


I 


2S 


4 


00 


3 


50 



Sondericker's Graphic Statics, with ^-pplications to Trusses, Beams, ana 
Arches. {Shortly.) 

* Trantwine's Civil Engineer's Pocket-book i6ino, morocco. 

Wait's Engineering and Architectural Jurisprudence 8vo, 

Sheep, 
Law of Operations Preliminary to Construction in Engineering and Archi- 
tecture, 8vo, 

Sheep, 

Law of Contracts 8vo, 

Warren's Stereotomy — Problems in Stone-cutting Svo, 

Webb's Problems in the U?e and Adjustment of Engineering Instruments. 

i6mo, morocco, 

* Wheeler's Elementary Course of Civil Engineering Svo, 

Wilson's Topographic Surveying Svo, 



BRIDGES AND ROOFS. 

Boiler's Practical Treatise on the Construction of Iron Highway Bridges. .Svo, 2 oo 

* Thames River Bridge 4to, paper, 5 00 

Burr's Course on the Stresses in Bridges and Roof Trusses, Arched Ribs, and 

Suspension Bridges Svo, 3 50 

Du Bois's Mechanics of Engineering. Vol. II Small 4to, 10 00 

Foster's Treatise on Wooden Trestle Bridges 4to, 5 00 

Fowler's Coffer-dam Process for Piers Svo, 2 so 

Greene's Roof Trusses Svo, i 23 

Bridge Trusses Svo, 2 so 

Arches in Wood, Iron, and Stone Svo, 2 so 

Howe's Treatise on Arches Svo 4 00 

Design of Simple Roof-trusses in Wood and Steel Svo, 2 00 

Johnson, Bryan, and Turneaure's Theory and Practice in the Designing of 

Modern Framed Structures Small 4to, 10 00 

Merriman and Jacoby's Text-book on Roofs and Bridges: 

Part I. — Stresses in Simple Trusses Svo, 2 50 

Part II. — Graphic Statics Svo, 2 50 

Part III. — Bridge Design. 4th Edition, Rewritten Svo, 2 50 

Part IV. — Higher Structures Svo, 2 50 

Morison's Memphis Bridge 4to, 10 00 

Waddell's De Pontibus, a Pocket-book for Bridge Engineers. . . i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

Specifications for Steel Bridges i2mo, i 25 

Wood's Treatise on the Theory of the Construction of Bridges and Roofs. Svo, 2 00 
Wright's Designing of Draw-spans: 

Part I. — Plate-girder Draws Svo, 2 50 

Part II. — Riveted-truss and Pin-connected Long-span Draws Svo, 2 50 

Two parts in one volume Svo, 3 so 



HYDRAULICS. 

Bazin's Experiments upon the Contraction of the Liquid Vein Issuing from an 

Orifice. (Trautwine.) Svo, 

Bovey's Treatise on HydrauUcs Svo, 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering Svo, 

Diagrams of Mean Velocity of Water in Open Channels paper, 

Coffin's Graphical Solution of Hydraulic Problems i6mo, morocco, 

Flather's Dynamometers, and the Measurement of Power i2mo, 

FolweU's Water-supply Engineering Svo, 

Frizell's Water-power Svo, 



2 


00 


s 


00 


6 


00 


I 


SO 


2 


SO 


3 


00 


4 


00 


s 


00 



Fuertes's Water and Public Health i2mo, i 5<> 

Water-filtration Works lamo, 2 50 

Ganguillet and Kutter's General Formula for the Uniform Flow of Water in 

Rivers and Other Channels. (Hering and Trautwine.) 8vo, 4 00 

Hazen's Filtration of Public Water-supply 8vo, 3 oa 

Hazlehurst's Towers and Tanks for Water- works 8vo, 2 50 

Herschel's 115 Experiments on the Carrying Capacity of Large, Riveted, Metal 

Conduits 8vo, 2 00 

Mason's Water-supply. (Considered Principally from a Sanitary Stand- 
point.) 3d Edition, Rewritten 8vo, 4 00 

Merriman's Treatise on Hydraulics, pth Edition, Rewritten 8vo, 5 00 

* Michie's Elements of Analytical Mechanics 8vo , 4 00 

Schuyler's Reservoirs for Irrigation, Water-power, and Domestic Water- 
supply Large 8vo, 5 00 

** Thomas and Watt's Improvement of Riyers. (Post., 44 c. additional), 4to, 6 00 

Turneaure and Russell's Public Water-supplies 8vo. 5 00 

Wegmann's Desien and Construction of Dams 4to, 5 00 

Water-suoplv of the City of New York from 1658 to 189S 4to, 10 00 

Weisbach's Hydraulics and Hydraulic Motors. (Du Bois.) 8vo, s 00 

Wilson's Manual of Irrigation Engineering Small Svo, 4 00 

Wolff's Windmill as a Prime Mover 8vo,i'3 00 

Wood's Turbines 8vo, 2 so 

Elements of Analytical Mechanics 8vo, 3 



00 



MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING. 

Baker's Treatise on Masonry Construction Svo, 

Roads and Pavements Svo, 

Black's United States Public Works Oblong 4to, 

Bovey's Strength of Materials and Theory of Structures Svo, 

Burr's Elasticity and Resistance of the Materials of Engineering. 6thlEdi- 

tion. Rewritten Svo, 

Byrne's Highway Construction ; Svo. 

Inspection of the Materials and Workmanship Employed in Construction. 

i6mo, 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering Svo, 

Du Bois's Mechanics of Engineering. Vol. I Small 4to, 

Johnson's Materials of Construction Large Svo, 

Keep's Cast Iron Svo, 

Lanza's Applied Mechanics Svo, 

Martens's Handbook on Testing Materials. (Henning.) 2 vols Svo, 

Merrill's Stones for Building and Decoration Svo, 

Merriman's Text-book on the Mechanics of Materials , Svo, 

Strength of Materials i2mo, 

Metcalf's Steel. A Manual for Steel-users i2mo, 

Patton's Practical Treatise on Foundations Svo, 

Rockwell's Roads and Pavements in France i2mo. 

Smith's Wire : Its Use and Manufacture Small 4to, 

Materials of Machines i2mo. 

Snow's Principal Species of Wood Svo, 

Spalding's Hydraulic Cement i2mo. 

Text-book on Roads and Pavements i2mo, 

Thurston's Materials of Engineering. 3 Parts Svo, 

Part I. — Non-metallic^Materials of Engineering and Metallurgy Svo, 

Part II. — Iron and Steel Svo, 

Part III. — A Treatise on Brasses, Bronzes, and Other Alloys and their 

Constituents Svo, 2^50 

7 



5 


00 


5 


00 


5 


00 


7 


SO 


7 


50 


S 


00 


3 


oa 


6 


CO 


7 


so 


6 


00 


2 


SO 


7 


SO 


7 


SO 


S 


00 


4 


00 


I 


00 


2 


00 


5 


00 


I 


25 


3 


00 


I 


00 


3 


SO 


2 


oa 


2 


CO 


8 


o» 


2 


00 


3 


so 



Thurston's Text-book of the Materials of Construction 8vo, 5 00 

Tillson's Street Pavements and Paving Materials 8vo, 4 00 

Waddell's De Pontibus. (A Pocket-book for Bridge Engineers.)- -iSmOimor., 3 00 

Specifications for Steel Bridges izmo, i 25 

Wood's Treatise on the Resistance of Materials, and an Appendix on the Pres- 
ervation of Timber 8vo, 2 00 

Elements of Analytical Mechanics Svo, 3 00 



RAILWAY ENGINEERING. 

Andrews's Handbook for Street Railway Engineers. 3X5 inches, morocco, i 25 

Berg's Buildings and Structures of American Railroads 4to, 5 00 

Brooks's Handbook of Street Railroad Location i6mo, morocco, i 50 

Butts's Civil Engineer's Field-book i6mo, morocco, 2 50 

Crandall's Transition Curve i6mo, morocco, i 50 

Railway and Other Earthwork Tables Svo, 1 50 

Dawson's "Engineering" and Electric Traction Pocket-book. i6mo, morocco, 4 00 

Dredge's History of the Pennsylvania Railroad: (1879) Paper, 5 00 

* Drinker's Tunneling, Explosive Compounds, and Rock Drills, 4to, half mor., 25 00 

Fisher's Table of Cubic Yards Cardboard, 25 

Godwin's Railroad Engineers' Field-book and Explorers' Guide i6mo, mor., 2 50 

Howard's Transition Curve Field-book i6mo morocco i 50 

Hudson's Tables for Calculating the Cubic Contents of Excavations and Em- 
bankments Svo, I 00 

Molitor and Beard's Manual for Resident Engineers i6mo, i 00 

Nagle's Field Manual for Railroad Engineers i6mo, morocco, s 00 

Philbrick's Field Manual for Engineers i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

Pratt and Alden's Street-railway Road-bed Svo, 2 00 

Searles's Field Engineering i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

Railroad Spiral i6mo, morocco i 50 

Taylor's Prismoidal Formulae and Earthwork Svo, 1 So 

* Trautwine's Method of Calculating the Cubic Contents of Excavations and 

Embankments by the Aid of Diagrams Svo, 2 00 

he Field Practice of [Laying Out Circular Curves for Railroads. 

i2mo, morocco, 2 50 

* Cross-section Sheet Paper, 25 

Webb's Railroad Construction. 2d Edition, Rewritten i6mo. morocco, 5 oc 

Wellington's Economic Theory of the Location of Railways Small Svo, 5 00 



DRAWING. 

Barr's Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 2 50 

* Bartlett's Mechanical Drawing Svo, 3 00 

Coolidge's Manual of Drawing Svo, paper, i 00 

Durley's Kinematics of Machines Svo, 4 00 

Hill's Text-book on Shades and Shadows, and Perspective Svo, 2 00 

Jones's Machine Design: 

Part I. — Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 1 50 

Part n. — Form, Strength, and Proportions of Parts Svo, 

MacCord's Elements of Descriptive Geometry Svo, 

Kinematics; or. Practical Mechanism Svo, 

Mechanical Drawing 4to, 

Velocity Diagrams Svo, 

* Mahan's Descriptive Geometry and Stone-cutting Svo, 

Industrial Drawing. (Thompson.) Svo, 

Reed's Topographical Drawing and Sketching 4to, 



3 


00 


3 


00 


5 


00 


4 


00 


I 


50 


I 


50 


3 


50 


5 


00 



Raid's Course in Mechanical Drawing 8vo, 2 00 

Text-book of Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design. .8vo, 3 00 

Robinson's Principles of Mechanism 8vo, 3 00 

Smith's Manual of Topographical Drawing. (McMillan.) Bvo, 2 50 

Warren's Elements of Plane and Solid Free-hand Geometrical Drawing. . i2mo, i 00 

Drafting Instruments and Operations i2mo, i 25 

Manual of Elementary Projection Drawing i2mo, i so 

Manual of Elementary Broblems in the Linear Perspective of Form and 

Shadow i2mo, i 00 

Plane Problems in Elementary Geometry i2mo, i 25 

Primary Geometry i2mo, 75 

Elements of Descriptive Geometry, Shadows, andlPerspective 8vo, 3 50 

General Problems of Shades and Shadows 8vo, 3 00 

Elements of Machine Construction and Drawing 8vo, 7 5o 

Problems. Theorems, and Examples in Descriptive Geometrv 8vo, 2 50 

Weisbach's Kinematics and the Power of Transmission. (Hermann an<^ 

Klein.) 8vo, 5 00 

Whelpley's Practical Instruction in the Art of Letter Engraving i2mo, 2 00 

Wilson's Topographic Surveying 8vo, 3 50 

Free-hand Perspective 8vo, 2 50 

Free-hand Lettering. {In preparation.) 

Woolf's Elementary Course in Descriptive Geometry Large 8vo, 3 00 



ELECTRICITY AND PHYSICS. 

Anthony and Brackett's Text-book of Physics. (Magie.) , . . .Small 8vo, 3 00 

Anthony's Lecture-notes on the Theory of Electrical Measurements i2mo, i 00 

Benjamin'sJHistory of Electricity 8vo, 3 00 

Voltaic Cell 8vo, 3 00 

Classen's Quantitative Chemical Analysis by Electrolysis. (Boltwood.). .8vo, 3 00 

Crehore and Squier's Polarizing Photo-chronograph 8vo, 3 00 

Dawson's "Encineering" and Electric Traction Pocket-book. . lomo, morocco, 4 00 

Flather's Dvnamometers, and the Measurement of Power i2mo, 3 00 

Giiben's De Magnete. (Mottelay.) 8vo, 2 50 

Hohnan's Precision of Measurements 8vo, 2 00 

Telescopic Mirror-scale Method, Adjustments, and Tests Large Svo 75 

Lanaauer's Spectrum Analysis. (Tingle.) 8vo, 3 00 

Le ChateUer's High-temperature Measurements. (Boudouard — iiurgess.)i2mo, 3 00 

Lob's Electrolysis and Electrosynthesis of Organic Compounds. (Lorenz.) i2mo, i 00 

* Lyons's Treatise on Electromagnetic Phenomena. Vols. I. and 11. Svo, each, 6 00 

* Michie. Elements of Wave Motion Relating tolSound'and Light 8vo, 4 00 

Niaudet's Elementary Treatise on Electric Batteries. (FishoacK. i i2mo, 2 50 

* Parshall and Hobart's Electric Generators Small|4to. halflmorocco, 10 00 

* Rosenberg's Electrical Engineering. (Haldane Gee — Kinzbrunner.). . . .8vo, i 50 
Ryan, Norris, and Hoxie's Electrical Machinery. (7n preparatio?- .'' 

Thurston's Stationary Steam-engines 8vo, 2 50 

* TiUman's Elementary Lessons in Heat 8vo, i so 

Tory and Pitcher's Manual of Laboratory Physics Small 8vo, 2 00 

Ulke's Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining 8vo, 3 00 



LAW. 

* Davis's Elements of Law 8vo, 2 50 

* Treatise on the Military Law of United States 8vo, 7 00 

* Sheep, 7 SO 
ManuallforlCourts-martial i6mo, morocco, 1 so 

9 



6 


00 


6 


SO 


5 


oo 


5 


50 


3 


00 


2 


50 



Wait's Engineering and Architectural Jurisprudence 8vo, 

Sheep, 
Law of Operations Preliminary to Construction in Engineering'and Archi- 
tecture 8vo, 

Sheep, 

Law of Contracts 8vo, 

Winthrop's Abridgment of Military Law i2mo. 



MANUFACTURES. 

Bernadou's Smokeless Powder — Nitro-cellulose and Theory of the Cellulose 

Molecule lamo, i 50 

Bolland's Iron Founder i2mo, 2 50 

" The Iron Founder," Supplement i2mo, 2 50 

Encyclopedia of Founding and Dictionary of Foundry Terms Usedjn the 

Practice of Moulding i2mo, 3 00 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives Bvo, 4 00 

Effront's Enzymes and their Applications. (Prescott.) Bvo, 3 00 

Fitzgerald's Boston Machinist i8mo, 1 00 

Ford's Boiler Making for Boiler Makers i8mo, i 00 

Hopkins's Oil-chemists' Handbook Bvo, 3 00 

Keep's Cast Iron Bvo, 2 50 

Leach's The Inspection and Analysis of Food^with Special_Reference to State 

Control. {In preparation.) 

Metcalf's Steel. A Manual for Steel-users. . . ^ i2mo, 2 00 

Metcalfe's Cost of Manufactures — And the Administration of Workshops, 

PubUc and Private 8vo, 5 00 

Meyer's Modern Locomotive Construction 4to, 10 00 

* Reisig's Guide to Piece-dyeing Bvo, 25 00 

Smith's Press-working of Metals Bvo, 3 00 

Wire : Its Use and Manufacture Small 4to, 3 00 

Spalding's HydrauUc Cement i2mo, 2 00 

Spencer's Handbook for Chemists of Beet-sugar Houses i6mo, morocco, 3 00 

andboo'x ior sugar Manufacturers ana their Chemists. . . i6mo, morocco, 2 00 
Thurston's Manual of Steam-boilers, their Designs, Construction and Opera- 
tion Bvo, 5 00 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosives Bvo, 4 00 

West's American Foundry Practice i2mo, 2 50 

Moulder's Text-book i2mo, 2 50 

Wiechmann's Sugar Analysis Small Bvo, 2 50 

Wolff's Windmill as a Prime Mover Bvo ,1^3 00 

Woodbury's Fire Protection of Mills 8vo,^2 50 



MATHEMATICS. 

Baker's Elliptic Functions Bvo, i 50 

* Bass's Elements of Differential Calculus i2mo, 4 00 

Briggs's Elements of Plane Analytic Geometry i2mo, i 00 

Chapman's Elementary Course in Theory of Equations i2mo, i 50 

Compton's Manual of Logarithmic Computations i2mo, i 50 

Davis's Introduction to the Logic of Algebra Bvo, i 50 

* Dickson's CoUege Algebra Large i2mo, i so 

* Introduction to the Theory of Algebraic Equations Large^i2mo, i 25 

Halsted's Elements of Geometry Bvo, i 75 

Elementary Synthetic Geometry Bvo, i 50 

10 





15 


5 


00 




25 


2 


oo 


I 


50 


1 


00 


3 


SO 


I 


SO 



* Johnson's Three-place Logarithmic Tables : Vest-pocket size paper, 

103 copies for 

* Mounted on heavy cardboard, 8 )< lo inches, 

10 copies for 

Elementary Treatise on the Integral Calculus Small 8vo, 

Curve Tracing in Cartesian Co-ordinates i2mo, 

Treatise on Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations Small Svo, 

Theory of Errors and the Method of Least Squares lamo, 

* Theoretical Mechanics i2mo, 3 00 

Laplace's Philosophical Essay on Probabilities. (Truscott and Emory.) i2mo, 2 00 

* Ludlow and Bass. Elements of Trigonometry and Logarithmic and Other 

Tables Svo, 3 00 

Trigonometry and Tables published separately Each, 2 00 

Maurer's Technical Mechanics. {In preparation.) 

Merriman and Woodward's Higher Mathematics Svo, s 00 

Merriman's Method of Least Squares Svo, 2 00 

Rice and Johnson's Elementary Treatise on the Differential Calculus . Sm., Svo, 3 00 

Differential and Integral Calculus. 2 vols, in one Gmall Svo, 2 so 

Wood's Elements of Co-ordinate Geometry Svo, 2 00 

Trigonometry: Analytical, Plane, and Spherical i2mo, i 00 

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. 

MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING, STEAM-ENGINES AND BOILERS. 

Baldwin's Steam Heating for Buildings i2mo, 

Barr's Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 

* Bartlett's Mechanical Drawing Svo, 

Benjamin's Wrinkles and Recipes i2mo. 

Carpenter's Experimental Engineering Svo, 

Heating and Ventilating Buildings Svo, 

Clerk's Gas and Oil Engine Small Svo, 

Coolidge's Manual of Drawing Svo, paper, 

Cromwell's Treatise on Toothed Gearing i2ino. 

Treatise on Belts and Pulleys i2ino, 

Durley's Kinematics of Machines Svo, 

Flather's Dynamometers and the Measurement of Power. i2mo, 

Rope Driving i2mo, 2 00 

GiU's Gas and Fuel Analysis for Engineers i2mo, i 25 

Hall's Car Lubrication i2mo, i 00 

Button's The Gas Engine. {In preparation.) 
Jones's Machine Design: 

Part I. — Kinematics of Machinery Svo, 

Part II. — Form, Strength, and Proportions of Parts Svo, 

Kent's Mechanical Engineer's Pocket-book i6mo, morocco, 

Kerr's Power and Power Transmission Svo, 

MacCord's Kinematics; or, Practical Mechanism Svo, 

Mechanical Drawing 4to, 

Velocity Diagrams Svo, 

Mahan's Industrial Drawing. (Thompson.) Svo, 

Poole's Calorific Power of Fuels Svo, 

Reid's Course in Mechanical Drawing Svo, 

Text-book of Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design. .Svo, 

Richards's Compressed Air i2mo, 

Robinson's Principles of Mechanism Svo, 

Smith's Press- working of Metals Svo, 

Thurston's Treatise on Friction and Lost Work in Machinery and Mill 
Work Svo, 

Animal as a Machine and Prime Motor, and the Laws of Energetics. i2mo, 

!11 



2 


50 


2 


50 


3 


00 


2 


00 


6 


00 


4 


00 


4 


00 


I 


00 


I 


SO 


1 


SO 


4 


00 


3 


00 



I 


SO 


3 


00 


5 


00 


2 


00 


5 


00 


4 


00 


I 


SO 


3 


SO 


3 


00 


2 


00 


3 


00 


I 


SO 


3 


00 


3 


00 



"Warren's Elements of Machine Construction and Drawing 8vo, 7 50 

Weisbach's Kinematics and the Power of Transmission. Herrmann — 

Klein.) , 8vo, sZoo 

Machinery of Transmission and Governors. (Herrmann — Klein.). .8vo, 500 

Hydraulics and Hydraulic Motors. (Du Bois.) 8vo, 5 00 

Wolff's Windmill as a Prime Mover 8vo, 3 00 

Wood's Turbines , 8vo, 2 50 

MATERIALS OF ENGINEERING. 

Bovey's Strength of Materials and Theory of Structures 8vo, 7 50 

Burr's Elasticity and Resistance of the Materials of Engineering. 6th Edition, 

Reset 8vo, 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering 8vo, 

Johnson's Materials of Construction Large 8vo, 

Keep's Cast Iron 8vo. 

Lanza's Applied Mechanics 8vo, 

Martens's Handbook on Testing Materials. (Henning.) 8vo, 

Merriman's Text-book on the Mechanics of Materials 8vo, 

Strength of Materials i2mo, 

Metcalf 's Steel. A Manual for Steel-users i2mo. 

Smith's Wire: Its Use and Manufacture Small 4to, 

Materials of Machines i2mo, 

Thurston's Materials of Engineering 3 vols. , 8vo, 

Part II. — Iron and Steel - 8vo, 

Part III. — A Treatise on Brasses, Bronzes, and Other Alloys and their 
Constituents 8vo, 2 

Text-book of the Materials of Construction 8vo 5 

Wood's Treatise on the Resistance of Materials and an Appendix on the 

Preservation of Timber 8vo, 2 

Elements of Analytical Mechanics 8vo, 3 



STEAM-ENGINES AND BOILERS. 

Carnot's Reflections on the Motive Power of Heat. (Thurston.) i2mo, i 50 

Dawson's "Engineering" and Electric Traction Pocket-book. .i6mo, mor., 4 00 

Ford's Boiler Making for Boiler Makers i8mo, i 00 

"Goss's Locomotive Sparks 8vo, 2 00 

Hemenway's Indicator Practice and Steam-engine Economy i2mo, 2 00 

Hutton's Mechanical Engineering of Power Plants 8vo, 5 00 

Heat and Heat-engines 8vo, 5 00 

Kent's Steam-boiler Economy 8vo, 4 00 

Kneass's Practice and Theory of the Injector 8vo, i so 

MacCord's Slide-valves 8vo, 2 00 

Meyer's Modern Locomotive Construction 4to, 10 00 

Peabody's Manual of the Steam-engine Indicator i2mo, i 50 

Tables of the Properties of Saturated Steam and Other Vapors 8vo, i 00 

Thermodynamics of the Steam-engine and Other Heat-engines 8vo, 5 00 

Valve-gears for Steam-engines 8vo, 2 50 

Peabody and MiUer's Steam-boilers 8vo, 4 00 

Pray's Twenty Years with the Indicator Large 8vo, 2 50 

Pupln's Thermodynamics of Reversible Cycles in Gases and Saturated Vapors. 

(Osterberg.) i2mo, i 25 

Reagan's Locomotives : Simple« Compound, and Electric i2mo, 2 50 

Rontgen's Principles of Thermodynamics. (Du Bois.) 8vo, 5 00 

Sinclair's Locomotive Engine Running and Management i2mo, 2 00 

Smart's Handbook of Engineering Laboratory Practice i2mo, 2 so 

Snow's Steam-boiler Practice 8vo, 3 00 

12 



Spangler's Valve-gears 8vo, 2 50 

Notes on Thermodynamics i2mo, i 00 

Spangler, Greene, and Marshall's Elements of Steam-engineering 8vo, 3 00 

Thurston's Handy Tables 8vo, i 50 

Manual of the Steam-engine 2 vols.. 8vo, 10 00 

Part I. — History, Structuce, and Theory 8vo, 6 00 

Part n. — Design, Construction, and Operation 8vo, 6 00 

Handbook of Engine and Boiler Trials, and the Use of the Indicator and 

the Prony Brake 8vo, 5 00 

Stationary Steam-engines 8vo, 2 50 

Steam-boiler Explosions in Theory and in Practice i2mo, i 50 

Manual of Steam-boiler? , Their Designs, Construction, and Operation . 8vo , 5 00 

Weisbach's Heat, Steam, a .i Steam-engines. (Du Bois.) 8vo, 5 00 

Whitham's Steam-engine 1 esign 8vo, 5 00 

Wilson's Treatise on Steam-boilers. (Flather.) i6mo, 2 50 

■Wood's Thermodynamics, Heat Motors, and Refrigerating Machines. . . .8vo, 4 00 



"MECHANICS A.ND TIACHINERY. 

Barr's Kinematics ot Machinery 8vo, 2 50 

Bovey's Strength of Materials and Theory of Structures 8vo, 7 50 

Chase's The Art of Pattern-making i2mo, 2 so 

Chordal. — Extracts from Letters lamo, 2 00 

Church's Mechanics of Engineering 8vo 6 00 

Notes and Examples in Mechanics 8vo, 2 00 

Compton's First Lessons in Metal- working lamo, i go 

Compton and De Groodt's The Speed Lathe i2mo, i 50 

Cromwell's Treatise on Toothed Gearing i2mo, 1 50 

Treatise on Belts and Pulleys i2mo, i 50 

Dana's Text-book of Elementary Mechanics for the Use of Colleges and 

Schools i2mo, I so 

Dingey's Machinery Pattern Making i2mo, 2 00 

Dredge's Record of the Transportation Exhibits Building of the World's 

Columbian Exposition of 1893 4to, half morocco, s 00 

Du Bois's Elementary Principles of Mechanics : 

Vol. L — Kinematics 8vo, 

VoL n.— Statics 8vo, 

Vol. m. — Kinetics 8vo, 

Mechanics of Engineering. Vol. I Small 4to, 

Vol. n Small 4to, 

Durley's Kinematics of Machines 8vo, 

Fitzgerald's Boston Machinist i6mo, i 00 

Flather's Dynamometers, and the Measurement of Power i2mo, 3 00 

Rope Driving i2mo, 2 00 

Goss's Locomotive Sparks 8vo, 2 00 

Hall's Car Lubrication i2mo, i 00 

Holly's Art of Saw FiUng i8mo , 75 

* Johnson's Theoretical Mechanics i2mo, 3 00 

Statics by Graphic and Algebraic Methods 8vo, 2 00 

Jones's Machine Design: 

Part I. — Kinematics of Machinery 8vo, i so 

Part n. — Form, Strength, and Proportions of Parts 8vo, 3 00 

Kerr's Power and Power Transmission. 8vo, 2 00 

Lanza's Applied Mechanics 8vo, 7 so 

MacCord's Kinematics; or. Practical Mechanism 8vo, 5 00 

Velocity Diagrams 8vo, i 50 

Maurer's Technical Mechanics, (/n preparation.) 

13 



3 


SO 


4 


00 


3 


SO 


7 


SO 


10 


00 


4 


00 



Merriman's Text-book on the Mechanics of Materials 8vo, 4 00 

* Michie's Elements of Analytical Mechanics 8vo, 4 00 

Reagan's Locomotives: Simple, Compound, and Electric i2mo, 2 50 

Reid's Course in Mechanical Drawing 8vo, 2 00 

Text-book of Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design . . 8vo , 3 00 

Richards's Compressed Air i2mo, i 50 

Robinson's Principles of Mechanism 8vo, 3 00 

Ryan, Norris, and Hoxie's Electrical Machinery. {In preparation.) 

Sinclair's Locomotive-engine Running and Management i2mo, 2 00 

Smith's Press-working of Metals 8vo, 3 00 

Materials of Machines i2mo, i 00 

Spangler, Greene, and Marshall's Elements of Steam-engineering 8vo, 3 00 

Thurston's Treatise on Friction and Lost Work in Machinery and Mill 

Work 8vo, 3 00 

Animal as a Machine and Prime Motor, and the Laws of Energetics. 1 2mo, i 00 

Warren's Elements of Machine Construction and Drawing 8vo, 7 So 

Weisbach's Kinematics and the Power of Transmission. (Herrmann — 

Klein.) t 8vo, 5 00 

Machinery of Transmission and Governors. (Herrmann — Klein. ).8vo, 5 00 

Wood's Elements of Analytical Mechanics 8vo, 3 00 

Principles of Elementary Mechanics i2mo, i 25 

Turbines 8vo, 2 50 

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 4to, i 00 

METALLURGY. 

Egleston's Metallurgy of Silver, Gold, and Mercury: 

Vol. I.— Silver Svo, 7 So 

Vol. II. — Gold and Mercury -. .8vo, 7 so 

** Iles's Lead-smelting. (Postage 9 cents additional.) i2mo, 2 50 

Keep's Cast Iron ; Svo, 2 so 

Kunhardt's Practice of Ore Dressing in Europe Svo, i 50 

Le Chatelier's High-temperature Measurements. (Boudouard — Burgess.) . i2mo, 3 00 

Metcalf's Steel. ' A Manual for Steel-users i2mo, 2 00 

Smith's Materials of Machines i2mo, i 00 

Thurston's Materials of Engineering. In Three Parts. Svo, S 00 

Part II. — Iron and Steel Svo, 3 so 

Part III. — A Treatise on Brasses, Bronzes, and Other Alloys and their 

Constituents Svo, 2 so 

Ulke's'Modern Electrolytic Copper Refining Svo, 3 00 

MINERALOGY, 

Barringer's Description of Minerals of Commercial Value. Oblong, morocco, 2 50 

Boyd's Resources of Southwest Virginia Svo, 3 00 

Map of Southwest Virginia Pocket-book form, 2 00 

Brush's Manual of Determinative Mineralogy. (Penfield.) Svo, 4 00 

Chester's Catalogue of Minerals Svo, paper, i 00 

Cloth, I 25 

Dictionary of the Names of Minerals Svo, 3 so 

Dana's System of Mineralogy . Large Svo, half leather, 12 so 

First Appendix to Dana's New "System of Mineralogy.". . . .Large Svo, i 00 

Text-book of Mineralogy Svo, 4 00 

Minerals and How to Study Them i2mo, i so 

Catalogue of American Localities of Minerals Large Svo, i 00 

Manual of Mineralogy and Petrography i2mo, 2 00 

Egleston's Catalogue of Minerals and Synonyms Svo, 2 50 

Hussak's The Determination of Rock-forming Minerals. (Smith.) Small Svo, 2 00 

14 



* Penfield's Notes on Determinative Mineralogy and Record of Mineral Tests. 

8vo, paper, o 50 
Rosenbusch's Microscopical Physiography of the Rock-making Minerals. 

(Iddings.) 8vo, 5 00 

* Tillman's Text-book of Important Minerals and Docks 8vo, 2 00 

Williams's Manual of Lithology , 8vo, 3 00 

MINING. 

Beard's Ventilation of Mines i2mo, 2 50 

Boyd's Resources of Southwest Virginia 8vo, 3 00 

Map of Southwest Virginia Pocket-book form, 2 00 

* Drinker's TunneUng, Explosive Compounds, and Rock Drills. 

4to, half morocco, 25 00 

Eissler's Modern High Explosives 8vo, 4 00 

Fowler's Sewage Works Analyses i2mo, 2 00 

Goodyear's Coal-mines of the Western Coast of the United States i2mo, 2 50 

Ihlseng's Manual of Mining 8vo, 4 00 

** Iles's Lead-smelting. (Postage 9c. additional.) i2mo, 2 50 

Kunhardt's Practice of Ore Dressing in Europe 8vo, i 50 

O'DriscoU's Notes on the TreatTient of Gold Ores 8vo, 2 00 

* Walke's Lectures on Explosi/es 8vo, 4 00 

Wilson's Cyanide Processes i2mo, 1 50 

Chlorination Process i2ino, i 50 

Hydraulic and Placer Mining i2mo, 2 00 

Treatise on Practical and Theoretical Mine Ventilation i2mo, i 25 



SANITARY SCIENCE. 

Copeland's Manual of Bacteriology. {In preparation.) 

Eolwell's Sewerage. (Designing, Construction, and Maintenance.) 8vo, 3 00 

Water-supply Engineering 8vo, 4 00 

Fuertes's Water and Public Health i2mo, i 50 

Water-filtration Works i2mo, 2 50 

Gerhard's Guide to Sanitary House-inspection. i6mo, i 00 

Goodrich's Economical Disposal of Town's Refuse Demy 8vo, 3 50 

Hazen's Filtration of Public Water-supplies 8vo, 3 00 

Kiersted's Sewage Disposal i2mo, i 25 

Leach's The Inspection and Analysis of Food with Special Reference to State 

Control. {In preparation.) 
Mason's Water-supply. (Considered Principally from a Sanitary Stand- 
point.) 3d Edition, Rewritten .8vo, 4 00 

Examination of Water. (Chemical and Bacteriological.) i2mo, i 25 

Merriman's Elements of Sanitary'Engineering 8vo, 2 00 

Nichols's Water-supply. (Considered Mainly from a Chemical and Sanitary 

Standpoint.) (1883.) 8vo, 2 50 

Ogden's Sewer Design i2mo, 2 00 

* Price's Handbook on Sanitation i2mo, i 50 

Richards's Cost of Food. A Study in Dietaries i2mo, 1 00 

Cost of Living as Modifiedlby Sanitary Science i2mo, 1 00 

Richards and Woodman's Air, Water, and Food from a Sanitary Stand- 
point 8vo, 2 00 

* Richards and Williams's The DietaryXomputer 8vo, i 50 

Rideal's Sewage and Bacterial Purification of Sewage 8vo, 3 5o 

Turneaure and Russell's PubUc Water-supplies 8vo, s 00 

Whipple's Microscopy of Drinking-water Svo, 3 50 

WoodhuU's Notes and Military Hygiene i6mo, 1 50 

15 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

Barker's Deep-sea Soundings 8vo, 2 00 

Emmons's Geological Guide-book of the Rocky Mountain Excursion of the 

International Congress of Geologists Large 8vo, i 50 

Ferrel's Popular Treatise on the Winds 8vo, 4 00 

Haines's American Railway Management i2mo, 2 50 

Mott's CompositionJDigestibility, and Nutritive Value of Food. Mounted chart, i 25 

Fallacy of the Present Theory of Sound i6mo, i 00 

Ricketts's History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1824-1894. Small 8vo, 3 00 

Rotherham's Emphasized New Testament Large 8vo, 2 00. 

Steel's Treatise on the Diseases of the Dog 8vo, 3 so 

Totten's Important Question In Metrology 8vo, 2 50 

The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 , 4to, i 00 

Worcester and Atkinson, Small Hospitals, Establishment and Maintenance, 
and Suggestions for Hospital Architecture, with Plans for a Small 

Hospital i2mo, i 25 

HEBREW AND CHALDEE TEXT-BOOKS. 

Green's Grarmnar of the Hebrew Language 8vo, 3 00 

Elementary Hebrew Grammar i2mo, 1 25 

Hebrew Chrestomathy 8vo, 2 00 

Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. 

(Tregelles.) Small 4to, half morocco, 5 00 

Letteris's Hebrew Bible 8vo, 2 25; 

16 



'APR 2 1104 




»■':. 



illl 



■'^'i ff^X'^i 



♦ 






-•>. , ' 



